Last Chance Program (SYOC)
by TheAlmightyLump
Summary: Vigilantism, the crime of being a hero without a license. For most people convicted of this act, they end up locked away with the people they helped put in there, in a cruel twist of fate worthy of a screenplay. But a small collection of these individuals have been given a second chance, their Last Chance, to make it as heroes, come hell or high water. (SYOC closed for now)
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

* * *

A man and a woman sat opposite each other in the nondescript office room, separated by the plain looking desk, devoid of any decorations or items, barring a small laptop, currently closed. They stared at each other silently, the woman seated in front of the desk bearing a confident grin, while the man sat sternly behind the desk, with his arms folded across his chest.

They remained silent for a few more minutes, before the man let out a small sigh,

"Fine," He droned, "Present your idea, hopefully this one is more reasonable than the last one,"

"You told me the last one almost got funded," The woman quipped, as she produced a brown folder, "If you thought that one was unreasonable, this one is sure to make it through,"

"I wouldn't be so sure," The man said, as he took the folder, opening it up and flicking through the pages inside, "After all, this project does seem to be very similar to the last one,"

"Ah yes," The woman replied, "But this time I've specified some precautions that should ease over the Directors' fears, so you don't need to worry!"

The man sighed again, though this time the sigh carried a note of disappointment, and sadness,

"Lauren, I know why you're doing this. After what happened to your brother-"

"I'm doing this to help these kids," Lauren interrupted, her gaze hardening into a glare and her muscles tensing, "They want to do good, so I say why not let them, more heroes can only be a good thing,"

"Their vigilantes Lauren," the man said, "I know they're trying to do good, but the public doesn't trust them. And what if word got out that we were not only pardoning vigilantes, but also training them and licensing them, to go out and do what they were put in prison for? We'd be shut down for good. It'd be like finding out the military was training ex-hitmen!"

"They're doing what they think is right, they're following the example set by licensed heroes. The only difference between them and prospective heroes is a piece of paper!" Lauren nearly screamed, slamming her hands on the desk as she stood, knocking her chair over.

"Its trust Lauren, trust that they've been trained to save everyone," the man said, struggling to maintain his composure as he rubbed his forehead. He sighed for a third time, slumping back in his chair in a defeated pose. "Look, Lauren," He began, "I'll put your proposal through, hell, I'll even give it a recommendation-

"Really?" Lauren interrupted, her glare quickly being replaced by a look of excitement,

"-but I have 3 conditions," The man continued, ignoring the interruption.

"I'm listening," Lauren replied, righting her chair and sitting down again.

"Number 1, only twenty kids, at least for the first run. The more kids we pick, the more funding it needs, and the higher chance that this whole thing gets uncovered,"

"Fine," Lauren said, her tone tinged slightly with disappointment.

"Number 2, only vigilantes vetted by heroes. No villians with a heart of gold, no criminals in bad situations, we need the PR for this thing too look as good as possible, just in case,"

"Got it,"

"And number 3, this is your project." the man said, his tone taking a somber edge, "If this thing goes under, its taking you with it, and the Director's are going to cut you loose, and distance themselves as far as they can get from the project,"

"I understand," Lauren said quietly, her voice taking the same somber edge as the man.

"Alright then," the man said, as he grabbed the laptop, opening it and turning it on. "This might take a while, we'll inform you if the proposal goes through, so go home, take some time off," The man looked Lauren up and down, "You look like you need it,"

"It has been a rough week," Lauren agreed, as she stood up, turning and walking towards the door to conceal the faint smile that crossed her face.

"I really do hope this works Lauren, we can never have enough heroes," The man called after Lauren, "especially ones like your brother," The man added under his breath, turning back to his laptop as Lauren left his office.

* * *

As soon as Lauren exited the building, she pulled her phone out of a pocket, dialing in a number with practiced ease. The number rang for a moment, then a gruff voice answered

"Speak," The voice said.

"Its time, they took the new proposal, we should get ready," Lauren said in a cherry tone.

"You sure they'll approve it? I don't want to deal with another false start,"

"I'm almost positive," Lauren said, a small smile crossing her face, "This time, it'll work, I promise,"

"Fine," The voice answered after a brief pause, "I'll broadcast the signal, but if this gets out, its on your head,"

"Then make sure it doesn't, trusted heroes only," Lauren replied, then hung up, dropping the phone back into her pocket,.

* * *

**Hi everyone, this is my first real attempt at an SYOC story, so forgive me for any mistakes, and feedback is appreciated. I have done some writing before, so hopefully there won't be too many mistakes, but feel free to point out any that you see.**

**This story is based around a reform school for vigilantes, set in an unspecified location somewhere in Japan, but the school will be accepting international students. The story will also run somewhat alongside the canon MHA story, but will only feature a little interaction. As for the ground rules**

**1\. Send your submissions via PM, I won't be accepting anything from the review section**

**2\. Title your submission 'Last Chance - [Name] - [Quirk]'**

**3\. Fill out every part of the character sheet, and only use the character sheet provided at the bottom of the story and in my Bio**

**4\. Characters must be vigilantes, not criminals, and they must have been approved by a hero (you can make up a hero for this, but make sure to detail the interaction between the two)**

**5\. Try to make the character original, creative, or at the very least interesting**

**6\. Delete the parts in parenthises before submitting**

**7\. Be detailed, the more you write, the more I have to work with, and the more accuratly I can write your character**

* * *

**General**

**Name:  
****Nickname: (put N/A here if the character doesn't have any)  
****Vigilante/Hero Name:  
****Gender: (I'll allow anything here)  
****Sexuality: (Again, open to anything)  
****Age: (14-15 unless very special circumstances (being super powerful is not special circumstances))  
****Birthday:  
****Nationality:**

**Appearance**

**Height:  
****Weight:  
****Build:****  
****Ethnicity:  
****Markings: (I.e tattoos, scars, piercings)  
****Hair colour & Style:  
****Eye Colour:  
****Skin Colour: **

**Clothing**

**Casual:  
****Sleeping:  
****Uniform: (The standard uniform is a dress shirt, blazer, pants/skirt, and a tie, but the regulations are lax)  
****Vigilante Costume: (What they wore when operating as a vigilante. Keep in mind they wouldn't have had access to advanced materials or technology)  
****Costume: (Include any hero equipment in here too)**

**Personality & History**

**Personality: (This is a very important part, be detailed)  
****Likes: (at least 2)  
****Dislikes: (at least 2)  
****Fears: (specify if they're mild phobias or actual crippling fears)  
****Backstory: (where did they grow up, what was their living situation like, things like that)  
****Motivation: (Why did they become a vigilante)  
****Family: (Close family, i.e parents, siblings)  
****Habits:  
****Secrets:**

**Quirk**

**Quirk Name:  
****Type: (Emitter, Tranformation, Mutant)  
****Description: (An overview of the quirks powers)  
****Strengths: (At least 2)  
****Weaknesses: (At least 2)  
****Special Moves: (Moves they currently have)  
****Future Moves: (Moves you want them to develop/learn)**

**Stats**

**Rate their abilites out of 10, 10 being the best, 1 being the worst. (Try to keep the stats balanced, but this is more for reference to what stats you consider important)**

**Strength: (How physically gifted they are)  
****Endurance: (How much damage they can take, and how long they can exert themselves for)  
****Dexterity: (How quick and flexible they are)  
****Charisma: (How good they are at drawing attention, and making people like them)  
****Manipulation: (How good they are at convincing people to see things a certain way)  
****Wits: (How good their common sense is)  
****Intelligence: (How smart they are)  
Teamwork: (How well do they work in a group)  
Quirk: (How much control do they have over their quirk)**

**Other**

**Extra Stuff (Optional): (Fun facts, little details, anything I missed that you want to include)  
****Theme Song (Optional): (Stuff I can listen to when writing to help get in the mood)  
****Quotes: (Things they might say)  
****Plot Beats/Story Arcs (Optional): (Suggestions for things that might happen to them, or story arcs that feature them as the/one of the main characters)**


	2. Fire & Blood

**Fire and Blood**

* * *

Asano scanned the street from his position in the alley, crouched down in the shadows to hide as much of himself from view as possible. He eyed the people moving up and down the busy street, watching for the tell tale signs of criminal activity among the throng of people. One particular individual caught his eye, a sleazy looking youth with messy and unkempt blonde hair, cutting through the crowd with practiced ease, his hands diving into pockets and bags as he went, leaving with wallets, phones and other valuables clutched between his thin fingers.

Asano's mouth curled into a snarl as he watched the pick-pocket go about his business, almost growling with rage as he watched him rob people blind. He made his move, standing up and slipping out of the alleyway and into the crowd of people. His sudden appearance caught a few people's attention, but the pickpocket was to preoccupied with stealing to notice him, and Asano's plain clothing, jeans, sneakers and a thin black sweatshirt, helped him blend in. Asano began to make his way towards the thief, his height allowing him to look over the top of the crowd and spot his distinctive blonde hair.

The pickpocket darted out of the crowd and into a nearby alley, his overstuffed pockets obvious to anyone who was paying attention, but the crowd that lined the streets protected him from being seen, at least by most people. Asano continued to push through the crowd, making his way to the same alley the pickpocket had just disappeared into. He ducked into the alley, disappearing into the shadows, then began to creep forward, remaining silent as he followed the thief.

The pickpocket continued through the alley till he was some distance from the main road, then quickly looked around him, checking that he hadn't been followed, before he crouched down and began to empty out his pockets, flicking open wallets and pulling out their cash and cards, and appraising pieces of jewelry.

"Trash, trash, more trash," He muttered to himself, "This ones nice." he paused on a large diamond ring, "looks like an engagement ring, such a shame." He smirked with an evil grin.

Asano had seen enough. He stood up out of the shadows and began to run towards the pickpocket, pulling off his sweatshirt as he ran. Underneath the sweatshirt, he wore a simple grey shirt, but that's not what would have drawn attention. Instead, most eyes would have been drawn to his right arm, or rather the lack of it was missing, and the shifting black substance that moved almost as if it was a liquid that sat in its place.

"Got the time?" Asano called out towards the youth as his run turned into a sprint. The pickpocket turned to face him just in time to receive the full force of Asano's left fist to his face, sending him to the ground and driving the air out of his lungs.

"Shit," The pickpocket groaned from the floor, "Thats a hell of a way to ask for the time" He said between pants as he tried to catch his breath.

"Shut up," Asano growled, as he grabbed the thief by the collar, lifting him up and punching him again, "You better stop picking pockets, or I'll be back tomorrow, and they'll never find your body." He lifted the pickpocket off of his feet and slammed him into the wall to emphasize his point, then dropped him in a heap,

"What kind of hero are you?" the youth groaned again, curling up into the fetal position at Asano's feet

"The kind that's not going to let the law get in the way of dealing with scum like you," Asano answered, delivering a final kick to the thief's stomach, before retrieving his sweatshirt, using it to gather up all the abandoned wallets and jewelry that lay scattered across the alley.

"Scum like me?" the youth wheezed, "Says the vigilante. What, think you're too far above the law to bother with a hero license. Or could you just not get into a hero school? Face it, you're as much of a criminal as I am." He stood up, a cocky and slightly punch drunk smile spreading across his face.

Asano paused, and then in an instant, he was standing in front of the pickpocket, his left arm jammed into his throat, pinning him against the wall and crushing his windpipe.

"I'm nothing like you," Asano hissed through gritted teeth, then removed his arm and let the youth drop to the ground, gasping for breath.

* * *

Asano pulled the cash he had reclaimed from the youth out of his pocket, quickly leafing through it and totalling up the amount.

"Five thousand, six thousand, seven thousand, seven thousand five hundred." Asano counted, taking the five hundred yen coin, dropping it back in his pocket as he walked towards a small and run down charity stand. He dropped the cash on the surface of the stand, continuing past and ignoring the chorus of thanks that emerged from the charity workers operating the stand. He hated having to take a cut from the reclaimed money, but five hundred yen was probably the least he could take and still afford to eat, at least for today, and dropping off the wallets and jewelry at the police station, bundled together in the midst of his sweatshirt helped ease his guilt. He turned down a blind alley, slipping back into the darkness as he prepared to continue his work.

* * *

A beeping signal drew the Pro-Heroes attention to his the brick like cell phone clipped to his belt, at it droned out a repetitive signal he was all to familiar with. He grabbed the phone, raising it up to his ear as he answered the call.

"Armarhino here, what's the issue?"

"Armarhino? Thank god its you, the last few calls went out to some B-tier jackasses who thought they could handle what we're up against." The caller replied with a breath of relief, as Armarhino's lip curled in contempt. They were testing a new device, the Heroic Emergency Response Signal Beacon, or HERoeS Beacon, a device that broadcasts a radio alert to the nearest hero, then connected them to the person who sent the signal. It was a good idea, in theory, but many people overestimated the calibre of hero needed to solve their issue, and would hang up on anyone that wasn't already a well established hero, repeating the signal till someone they felt was qualified arrived. If these issues were resolved, it could be a great tool in a heroes arsenal, but for now, it could be as much of a hindrance as a help.

Armarhino sighed quietly, then resumed his professional tone, "Let's get right to it then. Who's calling, what's the issue, and where are you?"

"This is Detective Nakada, we have a hostage situation in a hotel lobby downtown. Some nutcase came in with a gun and took the place over. He got about thirty people in there with him." The voice on the phone answered

"Do you have any info on the hostage taker?" Armarhino asked, his voice remaining level and calm as he began to sprint towards the location the call was coming from, an upper end hotel about three blocks away from his current location.

"Still waiting for a positive ID," the Detective replied, "I'll brief you in full detail when you get here."

* * *

Asano surveyed the hotel from his position across the road, hiding within the crowd that had gathered to watch the spectacle. The cops had set up a perimeter around the building, filling the night sky with wailing sirens and flashing lights. Most of them sat behind the fence barricade they had constructed, nervously holding their rifles or talking on their radios, seeming waiting for someone to show up to deal with the situation. Asano ditched the crowd, and began to circle around the hotel, taking a longer path to avoid any unwanted police attention, till he found himself at the back entrance to the hotel, where they took deliveries. During his time as a vigilante, Asano had spent more than a few nights sleeping in the basement of this particular hotel, and he knew the staff had a habit of leaving the door unlocked to avoid having to search for the keys every time they wanted to go outside. Asano pulled the door open and slipped inside.

He crept towards the elevator and pried the doors open, jamming the door open with a folding chair before he slipped into the elevator shaft, climbing up slightly so he could access the doors to the lobby, and pried them open slightly, just enough to catch a glimpse of the room. Just under thirty hostages sat inside the lobby, clustered in seemingly random groups at the back of the room, right where the elevators were, placed so the gunman would have no difficulty targeting them if they acted unruly. The gunman himself stood in the middle of the room, dressed in a long black coat that reached down to his ankles. His head was shaved bald and decorated with strange tattoos, and he carried an assault rifle in one hand, and a long, cruel looking knife in the other. Every so often, he would yell something in a strange and unknown language, and the hostages would quiver with fear

Asano backed away from the elevator door, and climbed back down to the basement. He had a plan on how to rescue the hostages, he just needed to wait for the right moment to execute it.

* * *

Armarhino arrived at the police barricade to the audible sound of many officers sighing in relief. Several of them thanked him as he walked past, relieved that a pro-hero had finally arrived, but he ignored their praise, instead searching for the detective that had called in the issue.

He found him not soon after arriving, analysing a floor plan of the building along with several members of a SWAT team.

"-and we can't go in through the elevators, he's disabled them. Plus, all the hostages are clustered in front of there." the detective explained, pointing to spots on the floor plan as he did so.

Armarhino cleared his throat, drawing the detectives attention.

"Detective Nakada, I presume?" He said, offering his hand to shake.

The detective remain silent, instead staring at the pro hero in awe. Armarhino wasn't surprised, most people had the same reaction when meeting him up close for the first time. He towered over most people, standing at ten feet tall, with a build to match, making him look like an oversized boxer or wrestler. He had a plain looking face, but his nose, crooked from being broken, drew attention away from it, and his blond hair draped over his eyes, obscuring them from view. A segmented, shell like plate covered his back, allowing him to curl into an impenetrable ball thanks to his quirk, Curling Shell

Detective Nakada swallowed hard, then shook the heroes offered hand, "Thank you for arriving so quickly, Armarhino," The detective said, "Allow me to catch you up."

He began to explain the current situation, "The hostage taker is in the lobby, with twenty-eight people held captive. He's shorted out the elevators; they're stuck between the eighth and seventh floor. He's got a rifle, and a knife, and isn't responding to any attempts to contact him. He's made no demands, but he hasn't killed any hostages, at least not yet."

"Any explosives?" Armarhino asked, resting his hand on his chin

"We've got no idea," a member of the SWAT team answered, "if he does, they're most likely here," He said, pointing towards a spot on the floor plan, "And here."

"What's your plan, Sir?" the detective asked.

Armarhino rolled his shoulders back, stretching a little before he turned towards the lobby entrance,

"I'm going to try and talk to him."

"Talk to him?!" Detective Nakada asked, disbelief clear in his voice, "I just said he wasn't responding to communications."

"That's because you've been shouting at him from across a police line," Armarhino replied, "But I can go inside without risking injury, so I can talk to him face to face."

The detective and SWAT members stood by in stunned silence as Armarhino walked past them, vaulting over the barricade as he made his way towards the lobby entrance. Inside, the gunman pointed his rifle towards the approaching hero, but allowed him to enter the lobby.

"Hands up," The gunman growled, as soon as the door was shut behind the pro, "Who are you, identify yourself!" He ordered in a disciplined and military tone.

"My name is Armarhino, I'm a pro-hero," Armarhino answered, holding his hands above his head, hoping to keep the gunman as calm as possible, "I came her to talk with you."

"We have nothing to talk about, hero," the gunman replied, "I have no demands, and I will not leave here till my task has been finished, so unless you're here to negotiate your surrender, either leave, or join the other tributes."

Armarhino cursed under his breath. Not having any demands meant they couldn't delay the gunman, and the way he referred to the hostages as 'tributes' sent a shiver down his spine. He scanned the room, looking for anything he could use, when he noticed the doors to one of the elevators open slightly, and a boy, no older than fifteen, with dark brown hair, cut down close to his skull and a strange black right arm, poked his head out. He made eye contact with the hero, and placed a finger against his lips, indicating that he should keep quiet.

"Keep him talking." the boy mouthed towards Armarhino, as he pried the doors open further, and began to direct the hostages down into the basement and away from the gunman's line of fire

"So," Armarhino began, drawing the gunman's attention away from the hostages, "What are your goals here then, surely there is something you want that you can't get here?"

"Unless you can get me more tributes, I don't think we can negotiate anything, Mr… Armarhino was it?" The gunman lazily drawled, his grip on the firearm weakening.

"Just Armarhino," the pro hero replied, maintaining his level tone "And who are you?"

"No-one important," The gunman answered, "but if you must know, you may call me Kuno."

"Well then, Kuno, since we're on a first name basis now, my real name is-"

"I don't care." Kuno interrupted, "I doubt we will see each other after this, one of us will be dead, and the other will face the gathering storm."

Half the hostages were evacuated by now, so Armarhino pressed on, feeling encouraged by the success of this plan. "Gathering storm, what are you talking about?" He asked, lowering his hands slightly, which Kuno seemed not to notice.

"Don't act like you haven't seen it, this world is growing darker," Kuno began to rant, "The world is tainted, and needs to be reborn, in fire and blood. I have already begun the first, now is time for the second."

"The first…" Armarhino thought for a second, then it dawned on him, "The fire at the government building, and the university, that was you!"

"Very clever, pro-hero," Kuno said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "I think there are a few four-year-olds who didn't get it as fast as you."

Armarhino felt his anger seethe inside him, but he kept it in check. They only had a few more hostages to get out, and he didn't want to blow it now. "If this… cleansing... requires blood, why not offer yourself?"

"Don't be foolish; humanity needs someone to lead them after this cleansing, someone who has foreseen the woe's that will befall the chosen survivors. Besides, there are so many, who would miss a few…" he said, as he swept his hand around the room, now seeing that it was almost entirely empty, the only ones left being Kuno, Armarhino, and the boy that had helped evacuate the hostages.

"Looking for someone?" The boy called out to Kuno, a cocky smirk on his face

Armarhino inspected the boy, now that he could get a good look at him. He was relatively tall, standing at six foot, with a lithe build, like a gymnast or runner. His dark brown hair was cut very close to his scalp, and his eyes matched the colour of his hair. His clothes were old and faded, and the right sleeve of his shirt had been removed, exposing his strange right arm to full view.

Kuno stared at the boy in surprise, but it quickly morphed into anger, as he raised his rifle, aiming it towards the boy with a disciplined ease. Armarhino reacted quickly, stepping around Kuno and delivering a devastating punch to the weapon, bending it beyond repair and flinging it out of Kuno's hands. Kuno, seemingly unphased, switched to his knife, as the boy charged into melee range. Armarhino quickly pressed the panic button on his cell phone, alerting all nearby police officers that he needed backup, then dove between the boy and Kuno, intercepting the knife, tearing it from Kuno's grip, and feeling the boy collide with his armoured shell, and fall to the ground, unresponsive.

Seconds later, the hotel windows shattered, and the doors were kicked open, as a crowd of police in SWAT uniforms stormed into the building, screaming commands at the top of their lungs as they surrounded the trio. Two of them grabbed Kuno by the arms, forcing him to the ground and handcuffing him, while one of them grabbed the boy, handcuffing him like Kuno.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Armarhino demanded, as he grabbed the officer who cuffed the boy by the shoulder, "That boy helped me, without him, this would likely have been a disaster!"

"Sorry sir, but I can't let him go," The police officer said, his mask muffling his voice slightly, "He's a wanted man, several counts of criminal vigilantism."

The police officer stood hauled the boy up to his feet and began marching him out of the hotel lobby, alongside Kuno.

"Wait," Armarhino called after the officer, who paused, and turned to face the pro hero. "At least tell me his name." Armarhino asked, walking closer to the police officer.

"Asano, Asano Torio." The officer answered, and exited the building with the boy.

Armarhino nodded, then quickly exited the building behind the officer, and took off, making his way towards his Agency. He had a good idea for how to help Asano, he just hoped the boy would agree to it.

* * *

**Wow, I did not expect to get so many submission after just publishing the first chapter, and I really didn't expect to fill the entire cast list. Thanks for showing interest in the story, and extra thanks to the people who reviewed.**

**I'll usually try to get at least 1 chapter out per week, maybe 2 if I'm far enough ahead in writing.**

**The accepted cast list is as follows**

**Males**

**1) Varik Larkson (Randy the Ranger) Quirk: Back Up Vocals**

**2) Kageto Iwata (LoneKoops) Quirk: Shadow Step**

**3) Damien Rodriguez (chiaka ebooks) Quirk: Black Dog**

**4) Jun Hamada (ThalioTP) Quirk: Quake Trigger**

**5) Raul Rivera (****TamashiNoSenshi) Quirk: Spirit Hands**

**6) Ethan Easton (KingKatsu) Quirk: Shadowsilk**

**7) Kenma Modoru (MyDearWatson) Quirk: Delay**

**8) Kusari Kennomi (seasel) Quirk: The Zone**

**Females**

**1) Takeshi Ishi (the4bestgame) Quirk: Rock On**

**2) Catherine Meikuriy (61394) Quirk: Evil Eye**

**3) Charlotte Swan (gamergirl101) Quirk: Open Book**

**4) Yuwaka Arai (MysteryAgain) Quirk: Charm**

**5) Mina Ishihara (arans) Quirk: Stone Gaze**

**6) Lucina Eventide (DragonStorm88) Quirk: Water Whip**

**7) Ayuna Mochizuku (Pengiun Thing) Quirk: Blood Sculpture**

**8) Aures Kiramiku (Hazzamo) Quirk: Pulse**

**9) Yuito Maki (JackHammerMan) Quirk: Plushie**

**10) Kazumi Chinoko (Roggi) Quirk: Hooked**

**11) Tendou Shiki (Hofund) Quirk: Poison Body**


	3. One Last Chance

**One Last Chance**

* * *

Asano sat in the empty room in his orange prison jumpsuit, Anti-Quirk cuffs tight around his wrists. He glared daggers at the glass of water that somebody left in the room as he adjusted the cuffs to stop them from cutting into his wrists. He leaned back in his chair, letting out a sigh of boredom as he watched the ticking clock that hung on the wall. A few minutes passed in silence before the door swung open, and a short man in a business suit and thick glasses walked into the room, holding his briefcase over his chest like a shield. He glanced around the room, and finally, focused his attention on Asano.

"Good evening. Your name is Asano Torio, correct?" The man began, as he took the seat opposite Asano at the table, laying his briefcase on the table, "I am Yataro, your legal counsel," He explained, as he unlatched his briefcase and began shuffling through sheets of paper, "I'm here to help you review your legal options and make sure you get full access to your rights."

"Not interested," Asano answered bluntly, leaning his chair back, "I already know what's going to happen to me,"

"If you are thinking about serving time, it is not impossible to avoid that." Mr Yataro stated as he pulled two sheets of paper from his now open briefcase. "A plea deal will, at the very least, reduce the time you spend in prison, and given how successful the mission was, I'm sure you can curry favor with the jury and court. If we play this right, I can get you released with a warning...perhaps even private congratulations."

"I'm NOT taking a plea deal." Asano shot back. "I won't deny what I did, I will take responsibility for my actions, and if they have a problem with that, they can deal with it." He set his chair down and stood up, looming over the lawyer, who didn't even flinch. "I'm not going to play by the rules of a system that I know doesn't work."

"Mr Torio." Mr. Yataro replied calmly, adjusting his glasses, "If you would just listen..." before he could finish, the door swung open and he trailed off. A police officer stood in the doorway, followed by Armarhino, who had changed from his hero costume into a more formal outfit, slacks and a dress shirt, stretched over his shell.

"Visitor for you." the officer grunted, then stepped aside, allowing the towering hero to duck into the room. Yataro stared in surprise at the Pro Hero, tilting his head back at what must be an absurd angle just to make eye contact.

"Hello, Asano," Armarhino began, straightening his shirt and ignoring the dumbstruck lawyer beside him, "I've got something I want to discuss with you if you're interested."

"Unless you're here to congratulate me, I don't think we have much to talk about." Asano replied, sitting back down with an audible thump. "But you were a big help at the Hotel, so why the hell not?" He spread his arms at the dingy room. "It seems I have time to spare, so sing your song. I'm listening."

"Thanks for your consideration." The pro-hero replied dryly, ignoring the jab, before glancing at the lawyer beside him, "Sir, could you leave us? I would prefer to do this in private." He added.

"Excuse me," Mr. Yataro said loudly, finally finding his voice. "but it is my client's legal right to have me present for any decision he makes, so if you'll forgive me, I'm staying." He insisted, folding his arms to punctuate his point.

Armarhino and Asano exchanged a quick glance, then focused back on the lawyer. "No, you're not." Asano answered, an edge creeping into his tone, "I don't want, or need, your legal advice."

"Mr Tor-" Mr Yataro began, but Asano cut him off.

"Leave. Now." He demanded with a glare. The lawyer fell silent and wrote something on an official-looking piece of paper.

"Allow me to make a record that you met Mr Armarhino and abandoned your right to my presence. Do you understand the consequences?" Asano nodded. "Very well. Please sign here that you acknowledge this record. And Mr Armarhino, your signature please."

After confirming the signatures, Yataro packed up his briefcase and knocked on the door to be let out of the room. The door opened, and with one final glance at his client, and the Pro Hero, he left the room.

After the lawyer left, Armarhino sat down in his chair, his massive frame dwarfing the plastic seat as he reached into his pocket, and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

"Let's talk business." He said, unfolding the paper and placing it on the table between them.

Asano leaned back in his chair, keeping his eye on the pro hero as he did. "So, what exactly is this proposition you have?" He asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"I can get you out of prison, for one." Armarhino stated bluntly.

Asano let out a short burst of laughter. "So what?" He replied, "I'll just go right back in, I'm not going to stop upholding justice just because I got a slap on the wrist. I might as well spend some time in prison, I put enough filth in there, maybe I should show them it's not safe in there either."

"Let me rephrase that." Armarhino responded, "I can get you out of prison, make sure you never see the inside of those wall for this, and you will continue your work."

Asano's eyes narrowed in suspicion, as he scrutinized the pro hero for any signs that he was lying. "And the catch is?" He asked suspiciously.

"No catch." Armarhino replied, a sincere smile on his face.

"Bull." Asano spat, "There's always a catch,"

"There's no catch... At least, not the kind you're imagining, trust me," Armarhino said, still keeping his tone level, "I'm here to offer you an invitation into the Last Chance Program."

"The what?" Asano asked in a confused tone, "Never heard of it."

"It's a secret project," Armarhino answered "Funded and run by a private organisation, with government approval to operate,"

"If that doesn't scream 'catch' I don't know what does." Asano retorted." So…what is it, and why should I even consider joining?"

"An attempt to rehabilitate vigilante's, and get them the proper training to become professional Heroes,"

"Why?"

"Why did you help me with the hostage situation? Why do you take down muggers, or go after gangsters? If people want to be heroes of justice, we want them, you know, being heroes, not rotting in jail cells. That should be reserved for the real criminals."

Asano crossed his arms as he stared at the hero. "So, it's either this or prison? Well, what if I go public with this? I'm sure the general public trusts vigilantes with their safety." He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You could." Armarhino nodded, "Although I don't think you'll get coverage. Like you said, the public doesn't trust vigilantes."

Asano scowled, then snatched the piece of paper off the table, quickly scanning it. It was a contract, stating that the signee had agreed to cease and desist from any 'illegal hero work', and enter a rehabilitation program. It required the signature of a pro hero, but Armarhino had already filled out that field with his short, messy signature.

Asano placed the contract on the table, and looked the pro hero in the eyes.

"Got a pen?"

"So you will join?"

"No, I want to do a crossword." Asano replied, "What do you think?"

"It'll be difficult," Armarhino warned, "And they won't tolerate mistakes. Make too many and you're out,"

Asano laughed as he scrawled his signature along the line.

"What? Trying to appeal to my ego now? I'm already signing up. It won't be that different than a hero school, and I could probably total ninety per cent of the rejects attending those.

"Whatever you say," Armarhino said with a smile, his tone neutral and collected. He grabbed the paper, folding it up and sticking it back in his pocket. "The program begins in two weeks, so be packed and ready to go by then"

"Already am," Asano replied, "Soon as I get my clothes back at least. Where am I going?"

"Don't worry about that." Armarhino replied, standing up and moving towards the door, "We'll find you."

He knocked on the door, and the police officer returned, carrying Asano's clothes under one arm. He placed them on the table, then moved over and unlocked the cuffs.

"See you in two weeks, Asano," Armarhino called over his shoulder as he strolled out of the room, disappearing around a corner, leaving Asano, with more questions than he started with.

* * *

The warehouse was abandoned and had been for years. Many of the glass windows were shattered, the steel girders where rusted and corroded, and the corrugated iron walls were peppered with bullet holes, dents and other damage. Inside, the cement floor was cracked, with weeds poking up from the gaps, with moss spread across most of the floor. The company that once owned this place had long since gone bankrupt, and the deed for the property had been lost in some filing cabinet, deep within a government building. No living soul occupied the place, and any tools and vehicles had been cleared out, taking whatever had been stored here with them. But tonight, the place was far from abandoned.

Tonight, the place was packed with criminals. Gang leaders and drug dealers rubbed shoulders with frauds and hitmen, making idle conversation as they ordered various drinks from the makeshift bar that had been assembled in the corner of the warehouse. It was operated by a tall man with eight spider-like eyes crowding his face. In another corner, separated from the crowd by a line of tough-looking thugs, an impromptu table had been set up, a plank of wood supported by several stacks of cinderblocks, with office chairs and old crates passing for a chair. At this table, two men sat on opposite sides. The first was obviously a leader of some sort, dressed in an expensive suit that absolutely didn't fit the place and calmly leaning back in his chair, sipping casually from a glass of whisky. The other man was much larger than the first, with a brutish looking face and a bent nose, dressed in plain clothing, faded jeans and a blank t-shirt.

"We have a problem, sir," The second man said, his voice nasal and hard to focus on. "Something's happening with the vigilantes. And it's not just here, it's happening all over the world if the word is right."

"I really don't see how that's our business, my friend." The first man answered, raising his voice to be heard over the ruckus. "One less vigilante hanging around is one less annoyance disrupting our operations."

"I know that boss, but we didn't stop them, nor any others for that matter. They're just straight-up stopping whatever they were doing." the second man continued, his shoulders tensing as he spoke.

"So?" The man replied, brows furrowing slightly, "Vigilantes are wising up, they're learning not to come after us. All I see is an opportunity here, so I fail to understand your apparent concern. Are you sure we shouldn't up out scale a little instead?"

"Sorry boss, but that's not a good idea." Came the scratchy voice, "The vigilantes are an indicator, to know when we're being too obvious, and then they stop, since they don't have the resources to come after our network. If we start expanding when they're gone, we might draw the attention of the heroes, and then they'll be all over us. Risk is too great, I'm sure you'll agree."

The first man paused, thinking over the second man's words, then sighed dramatically. "I suppose you're right. That's annoying of you." He couldn't stop a hint of amusement entering his voice.

"Just trying to keep the wheels oiled boss." The second man answered with a grin, "I'm really not a big fan of prison and I've never been good at honest work, so I'm doing what I can to keep all this afloat."

The first man grinned back. "You're a lifesaver, Sokol. The Russians deserve pity for losing you." He set his drink down on the table and got out of his chair, then climbed up on the table, and produced a pistol from his pocket, firing it into the air three times.

The reaction was immediate. Every person in the room quickly focused their attention on him, whispers spreading through the crowd.

"Listen up." The man said, raising his voice further to address everyone in the room, "We have an...issue. The vigilantes are disappearing from the streets."

A cheer spread through the crowd but was silenced just as quickly by a withering look from the man.

"Thank you. Normally, I would celebrate with you, but I've been warned that this might be a dangerous situation, and so, I need all of you on high alert, because we need to figure out what's happening." He slid the pistol back into its holster, "I refuse to be caught unawares: proper preparation has kept us going for many years, and it will keep us going for more." He quickly scanned the crowd again, then stepped off the table. "You may return to your drinks!" he shouted, and another cheer went through the crowd, this time tempered by a note of anxiousness that had spread through the crowd.

The man returned to his seat, and once again turned to face Sokol.

"Suspend all operations, at least till I've had the opportunity to look over them." The man said, picking up his glass

"And the prison break too? The big one?" Sokol asked, a concerned look on his face.

A smile crossed the man's face.

"That one is too important to delay. Besides," He said, as he took another sip of whisky, "if the prison break is successful, we won't need to worry about hiding anymore, no Hero would be able to stand up to us, and we need never concern ourselves with vigilantes again."

* * *

**With the full cast finalized, I figure its a good idea to speed through these early chapters till we get to the bit's everyone is interested in, seeing all the characters in action.**

**Thanks again to everyone who's reading this, and extra thanks to everyone who reviews**


	4. Orientation

**Orientation**

* * *

Asano had absolutely nothing to say in the van as it sped its way down a rough road that had clearly seen its share of traffic, the constant bouncing and jostling doing nothing to improve the already foul mood he had woken up with. He didn't know where they were, but they were definitely out of Tokyo. In fact, he didn't think they were near any major city.

The van suddenly tilted, throwing Asano back against his seat. He cursed under his breath, glaring at where he imagined the driver was sitting. He was sorely tempted to rip open the back doors of the van and escape, but the offer Armarhino had made kept him in his seat, at least for now. If nothing else, he would honor his agreement to join.

Just like the Pro-Hero had said, they had found him after two weeks. Not that Asano had attempted to hide, but he was fairly certain that doing so would maybe let him have one last trip to the convenience store. One moment he was sleeping under a bridge, and the other he'd woken up in a blindfold, hands in cuffs, before being shoved into the back of a moving vehicle. The cuffs had come off in seconds when he realised they weren't blocking his quirk, and the blindfold followed moments later for him to find himself in a van with the windows blacked out, and a metal divider separating him and the driver. They had been driving for about an hour at that point, so Asano decided the best choice was to play along. If something went wrong, he was still a trained fighter, and his Quirk wasn't disabled, so he was confident he could at least get out of a fishy situation. Where to go from there...well, he would cross that bridge when he got to it.

The van leveled out, then slowed down drastically, turning slightly as it moved, before coming to a stop. Asano tensed inside the vehicle, breathing quietly as he listened out for any noise outside the van. The only noise he could hear was a quiet hum, coming from an unidentifiable source that seemed to be all around him.

Suddenly, the van doors were thrown open, sunlight shining through into the van and almost blinding Asano. He squinted, barely able to make out the 3 figures standing in the doorway. The first and third were identical in every way as far as he could see, same height and profile, while the figure in the middle was taller than both of them, holding a square of something in their hands.

"Mr Torio, I presume?" The middle figure asked in a clipped, professional tone, "A little late, but you made it."

Asano kept blinking till his eyes got used to the sun, and eventually, the three figures came into focus. The first and third figures, much to Asano's surprise, were robots, armed with short rifles. They stood either side of the middle figure, looking as relaxed as a robot armed with an assault rifle could. That is to say, they looked like they were ready to shoot him right then and there.

The middle figure, on the other hand, was a taller woman, in a professional and expensive looking suit, holding a thin tablet.

"Who the hell are you?" Asano asked bluntly, clambering out of the van, "And where the hell am I?"

"I am your benefactor, and will remain so for the foreseeable future," The woman answered, extending her hand to Asano, "My name is Lauren Drebbel, but please just call me Lauren,"

"Well then, Lauren." Asano replied, ignoring her outstretched hand and stretching up to his full height, finding himself eye to eye with Lauren, "Where am I?"

"Where do you think you are, Mr Torio?" She asked with a smirk, "I believe you signed up for a program about two weeks ago, did you not?"

"So this is Last Chance then? If this is how you welcome your people I'm surprised anyone else is here.." Asano asked, looking around the compound he found himself in.

The whole area was surrounded by a massive concrete wall that extended far above Asano, blocking out his view of the surrounding area. The wall was smooth and uniform, the only interruption to the wall being a thick steel plate that Asano assumed was a gate.

The wall was dotted with guard towers, made of the same concrete as the rest of the wall, and more of the strange robots standing inside, half covered by the concrete railings

Inside the compound, the buildings were plain and utilitarian, with small windows of frosted glass covered with metal bars, placed at consistent distances apart.

"'Not going to prison', he said. Well, now I know he lied." Asano muttered under his breath,

"This is Sector Alpha, where you will find the auditorium, your classrooms, and administration." Lauren explained, as she began to walk, signalling for Asano to follow, "Sector Bravo is where you will find the main training area, Sector Charlie is where you will be staying for your time in the program, and Sector Delta is off limits."

"Why? What are you hiding there?" Asano probed,

"It is where we house our personnel." Lauren replied, "Due to the nature of the Last Chance Program, we can't exactly have people streaming in and out of the facility each day, so we instead house them on the compound. If it's any comfort, your personal rooms should, normally, also be off limits to us."

By the time Lauren had finished explaining, they had reached the door to the main building. Lauren placed her hand against a flat screen that sat next to the door, and with a short beep, the doors slid open. Lauren strolled confidently through, flanked by her two robot guards, with Asano following after a moment's hesitation.

"Where did you get the money for this place?" Asano asked as he looked around, "This place is massive, and it's got what must be thousands of tonnes of concrete, on top of all the hand scanners, and I'm guessing they don't sell these robots at the supermarket. I mean, what kind of investor has this much spare cash lying around?"

Lauren stopped suddenly, and let out a short laugh, a sudden break in her profession demeanour, "The 'Investor' is my company, Drebbel Enterprises," she explained, as she resumed walking, "Well, it was my company," She muttered, her voice taking on a sour edge, "I lost the chairman's position in a dodgy business deal, and now I'm just the lead engineer and project manager."

"Never heard of your company." Asano said bluntly, even as his curiosity got the better of him, "What do you make?"

"I'm sure you've noticed these robots patrolling the compound," Lauren stated, "I can produce them with my Quirk. It's a very tiring process, and I can only give them one task, which they will do until destroyed, but the other engineers can copy the robots I design, and make improvements I can't do naturally."

"Who buys them?"

"More than you know. Hero schools wanting training dummies, rich people looking for bodyguards, or even just companies looking for cheap labour. Just recently, U.A put in an order for our biggest robot yet."

Lauren came to a stop in front of a small door, and Asano was so distracted by the conversation he kept walking, almost crashing into one of the robots, barely stopping himself in time. He didn't feel the need to find out how these robots determined a target, or how good they were with those rifles.

"Your new uniform is inside, please leave your clothes where they are."

"Of course." Asano said, pushing open the door.

"And kindly take a long shower. Take your time!" Lauren called after him.

* * *

After the most thorough shower Asano could remember, he began to put on his new uniform: a pair of plain grey pants, polished black shoes, a plain white dress shirt, a black tie, and a matching black blazer. He tried in vain to knot the tie correctly for a total of five minutes, but eventually gave up, stuffing it into his pocket. 'I'm not gonna make a good impression, might as well stop wasting my time as well.' he thought, shrugging off the blazer, untucking his shirt and rolling up the sleeves. After making sure everything he wanted in his new pockets were there, he shoved his hands into them and strolled out the door.

Lauren looked him up and down with a stern look, then sighed.

"We're already late. Come on, or we won't make orientation." She set off walking at a brisk pace, and Asano had to hurry to catch up with her.

"It's your program, surely you can delay it?" Asano complained.

"I'm not going to inconvenience all the other students because you don't want to take a jog. Surely you can handle it, being a vigilante and all, it's a very physical job." Lauren taunted

"Oh, I'm so sorry for looking under the weather because I fu...freaking am, you know, 'cause I missed breakfast. How could I have been so stupid? Oh, yeah, I got kidnapped while I was sleeping, your thugs threw me in the back of a van like they were taking out the trash and then drove me God knows where." Asano almost snapped, but he brought himself back under control. After all, he was pretty sure this lady, who had so far been forthcoming and somewhat amiable, hadn't given specific orders for him to be manhandled.

"Stop complaining." Lauren said, "We're there."

They had arrived at a large set of double doors. Lauren gave Asano one last pat on his shoulder, then turned and began to walk away.

"Go on in, introduce yourself, meet your classmates." She called back to him, "Orientation will begin shortly."

Asano grappled with the sudden rush of anxiety that washed over him, then pushed the door open, walking in to meet his classmates.

Asano didn't know what to expect behind the door that he was currently in front of. Perhaps a horde of costumed warriors, with flashy superpowers and advanced gadgets, heroes in all but licenses. Or maybe a gang of rough looking thugs with no regard for the rules, hardened and scarred from their previous battle experiences. What he got was a group of normal looking teens, dressed similarly in what he recognized as the uniform. There was a wide variety of students, ranging in height, gender and skin tone, but one thing remained consistent, and that's just how ordinary they looked, at least in this world of mutants and heroes.

The door clicked shut behind him, and the idle conversation that had filled the room suddenly cut off, as everyone turned to look at Asano. Their stares unnerved him and the silence didn't help, but one single student ran over to greet him. She was shorter than him, standing at what Asano estimated to be five foot two, and he thought she could use a good meal as he noted her frame. A more detailed look revealed dark blue hair tied up in a ponytail, and on her face was a wide smile.

"HI!" She all but shouted at him, bubbling with excitement as she leaned forward at him. "What's your name? Mine's Lucina, but you can call me Lucy! Are you the last student? Miss Lauren said that there would be twenty of us, so you must be the last one!" She rattled off without pausing for breath, so he was deprived of any chance to answer. Asano tuned her out for a moment, leaving her to talk while he inspected the room they were in. It was a big room, oversized for the twenty people that occupied it, with a relatively small stage set up at the front of the room and twenty chairs set up in two rows in the middle. He would guess it looked the same as any other auditorium, but he only had one other example to draw from, and in any case, he didn't remember it that well.

"Whoa there Lucy, give the guy a break." Another voice cut in, drawing Asano from his thoughts. The owner was taller than Lucina, but still shorter than Asano, standing at about five foot eight, with a lean build and short black hair, but what really drew attention were his eyes, their deep gold colour seeming to catch the light like the real deal would.

He walked over to join the excited girl, then extended his hand to the taller student to shake,

"Damien," He stated plainly, the unspoken question clear to the both of them.

Asano took the offered hand and gave it a light shake, "Asano."

At that moment, the doors behind the stage opened, and Lauren walked out onto the stage, a slim microphone in her hand.

"Good…" She checked the watch on her wrist, "afternoon, students. Glad to see you all here in one piece, and I hope everyone got at least a little acquainted with each other. Please take a seat, orientation will begin shortly."

The students quickly filed into the seats, and Asano found himself sitting in the back row between Lucina and Damien, and behind a short girl with snow white hair. Moments later, two more people followed Lauren into the room. The first one was a tall, broad shouldered woman, with short black hair, a cruel looking sneer and a myriad of scars marking the right side of her face. She wore an armoured vest over a t-shirt that displayed her well-muscled arms, and a pair of jeans and combat boots. The second was a small man who looked just as tough, dressed in a pair of slacks and a dress shirt, the arms rolled up to show off the scars that decorated his forearms.

Lauren cleared her throat, and began to speak. "Students, welcome to the Last Chance Program. You have all been chosen because we feel you have the potential to better yourselves and rise above what you are now. Our hope with this program is to prove that we can stop imprisoning vigilantes, and to help them become licensed heroes instead. To get them out into the world, outside the shadows, instead of inside prison cells." She began to pace as she delivered her speech, while the man and woman behind her remained still, staring ahead, as though waiting for a signal.

"I'll give it to you straight." Lauren continued, "You are a test run, to see if this project is worth furthering. You'll be under scrutiny by at least three different branches of the government, my own company, and likely the public if this is taken outside. You'll need to be at the top of your game, and we will be intolerant of mistakes. Training will be hard, and you will be away from your families and friends for some time, but you will emerge from all this as fully trained, licensed heroes...IF we aren't shut down. Now, on a hopefully more cheerful note, allow me to hand you over to your teachers." Lauren handed the microphone to the man, then stepped back, allowing the two teachers to take centre stage.

"Alright kids, listen up!" The man shouted in a gruff, stern voice, ignoring the microphone in his hand. "My name is Connor Young, and this is Olivia Delson; to you, that'll be 'Mr Young' and 'Miss Delson'. We will be your teachers, and I will be handling your academic education, while Miss Delson is in charge of your physical training,"

"Wonder what their quirks are." Asano heard Damian mutter beside him. A good question. Nothing about their posture, behavior or clothing gave away any details.

"We'll probably find out later," Asano muttered back.

"And now, to make a few things clear. We do not want to see you misbehaving; we will give you time to adjust, but after that, we expect you to act like the heroes you're here to become. You are going to be licensed Pro Heroes, and for that, there's a whole new set of standards we and the public will expect of you. You will be provided a handbook with rules and regulations later, but until then, be on your best behavior."

Miss Delson cut in, ignoring the microphone provided just like the other teacher. "As vigilantes, I'm sure you're used to working alone. Here, however, you're going to learn to stop being the lone wolves you are. You must learn to work as a team, to remember each other's strengths and weaknesses as well as your own, in order to secure victory. If you can't do this, never mind staying in this Program, the public and other Heroes will never accept you as a Hero or one of them and you'll drag the whole program, and everyone in it, down with you. And I won't let that happen." She eyed the crowd with an ominous glare, while the students continued to sit in silence. Some looked tense. Some looked annoyed. Some looked surprised. And one, Asano spotted, was looking at their nails disinterestedly.

"No questions?" She asked. "Good, then it's time for your first class."

* * *

**I know this is another chapter without introducing the whole cast, or their quirks, but don't worry, its the last one. I planned on having a few chapters so I could keep the story interesting while people submitted their characters, but, since I got them all so quickly, I've tried to speed through those ones to get to the interesting parts. Next chapter, we'll finally see everyone in action, as the training begins.**


	5. First Day, First Hurdles

**First Day, First Hurdles**

* * *

The twenty students stood dressed in plain coloured workout gear, assembled in two rows outside the large athletics field that occupied a corner of Sector Bravo. The two teachers stood in front of them, Mr Young still dressed in his suit, while Miss Delson had put on a black baseball cap, a tank top and cargo shorts.

"Today, we will be performing a simple apprehension test. Six challenges in total, for all of you. These have been selected to help us gauge the extent of your Quirks and physical capabilities, namely strength, stamina, speed, and finesse." Miss Delson announced, her voice carrying just as well outdoors as it did in the auditorium. "You'll be ranked on your overall performance, but we will tailor your training based on your performance in each challenge. Any questions?"

Two hands went up. Miss Delson eyed them both, then pointed at the closest one to her. He was tall and about the same height as Asano, with dark skin, a well-developed build and short, dishevelled, bluish-black hair, swept slightly forward to cover his strange purple eyes.

"Tell us your name, and ask your question."

"Raul," The boy answered, "Raul Rivera. What are the challenges going to be, exactly?"

"You'll know the details later." Miss Delson replied dismissively, before pointing at the next student. It was the snowy-haired student Asano had been sitting behind during orientation. She stepped forward, and Asano took a quick look at her. She was short, about five foot four, and slim, although she evidently managed to pack some muscles. Her hair cut off at her jawline, with shorter locks framing her hair, and bangs ending just barely above her purple eyes; a surprisingly similar colour to Raul.

"Mina Ishihara. What if our quirks aren't suited for intense physical activity?" She asked, and Asano thought she sounded a tad stressed. Perhaps the gravity of their situation was getting to her.

"You're vigilantes. Whatever your method, you made yourself capable of apprehending Villains and fighting crime. Show me how." Miss Delson answered, the finality of her tone making everyone think twice about arguing. She glanced over the students once more.

"Let's go. It's time for the first event." She marched off, with Mr Young and the students following close behind.

Soon, they arrived at the location for the first event, a straight running track with ten marked lanes, going forward about fifty metres, with small metal boxes at either end of the track.

"First event: fifty-metre sprint," Miss Delson announced, "We'll be doing this in two heats. The rules: don't go outside your lane, and don't attack your classmates."

Mr Young cleared his throat and produced a clipboard. "When I call your name, go to the next available lane. Varik Larkson!" He announced. A tall, scrawny looking student with pale white skin and slicked brown hair stepped away from the crowd, nervously glancing around as he lined up in the first lane.

Mr Young continued reading off names until ten students were arranged at the start line, a few of them stretching as they prepared for the race.

"Ready!" Mr Young shouted, the students crouching down as they prepared to race.

"Set!"

"Go!"

As soon as those worlds left his lips, three things happened. First, in the time it took to blink, a student disappeared from the start line, and reappeared at the finish line. He was a tall, thin boy, about five eleven, and you could see some decent muscles in his frame. He had straight brown hair, and hazel eyes. The second thing was that, milliseconds later, another student appeared at the finish line, this time leaping out of the first boy's shadow, shoulder-checking the other student as he did so, knocking him over with a clearly visible smirk. As for his appearance, well, Asano was amazed he hadn't noticed him earlier. He was without a doubt the tallest, broadest student there, standing at what must be around six foot two, his beefy, mountain-lion esque frame covered in a layer of tawny fur, with black markings across his arms and muzzle, and finally, a tail tipped with black fur peeking out from behind him. And finally, the other eight students began sprinting towards the finish line, ignoring the ruckus the two fastest students were causing.

After every student crossed the finish line, the results came in. The student who had teleported to the finish line, Kageko Iwata, finished first, a time of point one seconds. Just behind him, at point five seconds, was the cat-like student, Ethan Easton. In third place, unfortunately overshadowed by the two other winners and the spectacle they caused, was Yuito Maki, a small, yet surprisingly fast girl, standing at four foot nine, with light brown hair styled in two buns, with a small cartoon bear clipped to her head. Asano wondered if that bear would mimic her expressions like in anime.

"Suck it!" Ethan shouted, thumping his chest like a silverback gorilla towards the other students, "You think you're fast! You're nothing!"

He continued boasting, oblivious to Miss Delson approaching from behind him. The teacher grabbed the student by the shoulder, spun him around, and lifted Ethan straight into the air by his collar.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Easton?" the teacher's voice sounded calm, but everyone could hear the anger, barely concealed underneath. Asano was sure a deaf guy would've heard it.

"I did what I had to do to win, what else? I can't help it if he's exactly where I'll pop up from inside his shadow. And I can't exactly fit past him with my size, can I?" He flexed his arms to emphasize his point, though his pink irises and black scleras shone in the way that told anyone who cared to look his true intentions.

"Did we not make the rules clear? How many were there again?" Miss Delson asked again, focusing her glare on the other nineteen students. "Two. Only two rules, and very simple ones at that." She stated, returning her focus to the student still being held midair. "Stay in your lane, and no attacking other students. Two rules, and you broke both! Has it even been a minute since you heard them?"

Ethan started poking around inside his right ear with his pinky with a bored expression on his face, as if he was not the one being grabbed by the collar or the one with his legs dangling midair. "Lady, as you so eloquently and loudly announced to high heaven, we are all vigilantes. 'Rules' and 'us' don't really fit into the same sentence. We all broke those a long time ago when we decided to go where your money-grubbing 'Pro Heroes' thought was too dirty for them, and do the work they were supposed to be doing. We were doing the dirty work while they were sitting pretty in their big fancy offices and selling their faces for ad money and to put on action figures."

Miss Delson seemed about to do something drastic, until Mr Young laid a stern hand on her shoulder, shaking his head slightly. Miss Delson growled, but dropped the boy like a sack of potatoes.

"Alright students, take your total time, subtract it from ten, and that's how many points you get for this event." Miss Delson announced, while Mr Young quietly noted down the scores on his clipboard. "Except for you, Easton. Zero points for breaking the rules."

"Oh boo-fucking-hoo," Ethan retorted, "Who cares about points, everyone still knows that I beat them."

"I hear you loud and clear, Easton. One more word out of that mouth and you'll be cleaning the whole facility for a month." Mr Young explained as if he was teaching him a particularly tough problem. "If you want to really see the inside of Sector Delta, this is your chance." He added. Ethan rolled his eyes, but stayed silent.

"Next heat," Miss Delson ordered, and once again, Mr Young began to list off the remaining students.

This time, there were no incidents, and no spectacular finishes. Just a plain running race. First place went to Damian, who morphed into the form of a large black dog and charged forward, outpacing the other students. Second and third place went to Jun Hamada, a short, rough and athletic looking student, who stood at about five foot three, with long, shaggy brown hair, and Catherine Meikuriy, a skinny girl who stood at five foot four, with green hair, black highlights, and strange green eyes with blue sclera.

The students looked over the results for the first test. Kageko had taken an early lead, with Damian not far behind him, while an uninterested Ethan sat in last place with zero points.

The students moved to the site for the next test. The setup for this challenge was as simple as it was obvious, a long sandbox with markings measured out on the side, with a vertical wall beside it, similarly marked.

"Second event, long jump and vertical jump."

This time, they didn't bother separating them into heats, every student took turns jumping, going three times to get an average score. Once again, Kageko took first place. After all, it was hard to set a better record than someone teleporting straight to the very end of the sandbox or to the top of the board. Second place went to a student named Kazumi Chinoko, a short and skinny girl with a forked tongue, neatly done white hair and yellow slitted eyes. This girl, instead of jumping, had turned her hand into a large hooked chain, and pulled herself to the top of the wall, though this trick didn't work so well for the long jump. Lucina had come in third place with a similar trick, shaping a bottle full of water from a nearby icebox into a whip, and latching onto the top.

The next event was an obstacle course, a timed race through six obstacles. Kageko didn't perform nearly as well this time, as he was forced by the rules to complete each obstacle properly, instead of just teleporting through. Damian had won, the speed and maneuverability that came with his canine form allowing him to speed through the course, while second place was won by Jun, with Yuito following up just behind.

The fourth event took place inside for a change, with twenty robots arranged atop thin crash mats. A sparring match, Miss Delson explained, and the goal was to eliminate the robot as quickly as possible. "If you can be downed by this heap of metal, you're out, and you should think about switching careers. You'll live longer."

Like the sprint race, this event's winners were decided quickly, in a brilliant and flashy display of quirks. Aures Kirameku, a slender girl with dirty blond hair, tied back in a ponytail, had finished her fight in a single punch, her opponent freezing up and spewing black smoke from several points on its body as soon as she made contact. Closer inspection revealed that most of its circuitry had been fried, rending the robot useless.

Other students had been far less...gentle in defeating their opponents. One such student, Takeshi Ishi, a short but thick-muscled girl with short and spiky hair that seemed to resemble stone, purple eyes, and a myriad of scars across her arms, had coated her arms in a layer of metal, before unleashing a series of heavy punches on the robot, leaving behind nothing but a pile of ruined metal.

They returned to the athletics field for their fifth event, and were graced by Miss Delson, bearing a cruel smile.

"Fifth event, the endurance run." She announced, "Keep running till you drop. You'll lose points relative to the others' performance if you opt out, but you can do so at any time."

The endurance run wasn't like any other event. No-one had a quirk that could help them here, leaving the result to pure physical ability. In the end, Jun and Takeshi were the last students left in the race, alongside Kusari Kennomi, a five-foot nine boy with broad shoulders, impressive muscles all over his body, grey eyes and short, spiky black hair.

Finally, the students moved onto the site of the last event. Most were exhausted from the endurance run; it had taken a lot out of them, but many of them brightened up upon seeing their final task. It was a simple task and a traditional one, throwing a softball as far as possible. Ethan smirked, fully expecting to ace this test, and Asano couldn't help but share his excitement.

Ethan shoved his way to the front of the crowd and walked over to the throwing circle, grabbing a softball from the crate that sat beside it. He tossed the ball back and forth between his hands with a cocky smirk.

"Ready to see a new record set? I'm going to make history." He bragged.

"I don't see anyone here who gives a damn." Another student called out from the crowd, "Get on with it already!"

Ethan scowled, then turned around suddenly, throwing the ball with all his might, aiming above the crowd, the ball shooting dangerously low over their heads accompanied by a strong gust of wind visibly rustling their uniforms and hair.

"Oops, my bad!" he yelled back, even as a shroud of black smoke evaporated from his throwing arm. "May I go again, sir?…I mean, Ma'am?"

Mr Young laid a hand on Miss Delsons forearm, halting her as she tensed up, every muscle in her body tightening in barely suppressed anger at this blatant disregard of the rules.

"You won't help the matter if you blow up now, Olivia." Mr Young muttered to her. In a louder voice, he replied, "Yes, you may go again, Easton, but one more stunt like that and you can polish every inch of the compound. And you're not getting your meals 'til you're finished; I haven't forgotten the sprint."

Ethan gave a mock salute, with a face that showcased how little he cared about the threats of punishment they had in store for him. A few of the other students shared furtive glances between themselves, clearly worried about what was going to unfold if Ethan decided to defy their trainers whose patience, in particular Miss Delson's, were clearly running thin.

In an effort to dissolve the mounting tension, Varik Larkson, the scrawny-looking student with brown hair, pushed his way to the front of the crowd.

"If you won't do it properly, step aside and let those who actually want to get things done have their turn." Varik stated, the gulp in his voice undermining his show of bravery.

Ethan whirled on Varik with a challenging glare, but didn't say anything, grabbing another softball instead. His dark smoke coiled around his throwing arm again, and he threw the ball with all his might, sending it shooting through the air like a bullet, the gust of wind making Varik's hair fly out behind his head, as he still stood close to the much bigger student.

"How was that?" Ethan bragged, eyeing the teachers, "If you need to measure the distance, I'd suggest getting started, might take you all day to catch up with it. If you even manage to find it, that is. Though maybe blink boy can help?" Ethan pointed at Kageko, the one who beat him at the sprint.

"Five hundred metres," Mr Young announced, looking at the machine in his hand and ignoring Ethan's comment. "You volunteered, Larkson? Well, please take your turn." His voice was slightly more pleasant than when he addressed Ethan.

Varik gulped again, then lined up at the throwing circle. Compared to Ethan's throw, Varik's throw was nothing to write home about, but it was still impressive considering his size, scoring in at just under one hundred metres.

The other students took their turns, most of them scoring between one hundred and two hundred. A few broke that pattern though, the most notable being Kenma Modoru, who stood at five foot seven, with silver hair (obviously dyed, Asano thought) and bright orange eyes. He had scored four hundred and fifty metres, although his shoulder had let out a sickening pop as he threw the softball, and a massive bruise spread out across his upper arm. A few students came forward to help, but within moments, the bruise had vanished, and Kenma himself seemed not to be in discomfort or pain from the experience.

With the other nineteen students having taken their turns, Asano was the last one left. He squared his shoulders as he walked to the throwing circle, a confident smile on his face. He picked up a softball with his strange right arm, the whole limb seeming to bulk up in preparation for the throw. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a few raised eyebrows, several of the students focusing on his arm as he wound up for the throw. He wondered if his own eyebrows had shot up when some of the more outlandish quirks had been displayed even as he reared his arm back. He swung once then let go, the ball hurtling through the air as if fired from a cannon, disappearing into the distance to join Ethan's own attempt in the five hundred range.

"Five hundred and seventy metres." Mr Young announced, his calm tone still impossible for Asano to tell what he thought of it.

"You sure that's accurate?" Asano dragged out his voice, as he turned to face Ethan, "I'd like the records to be accurate, just to give Ethan here a goal for the future."

The taller student bristled, something in the sentence clearly not to his liking before he suddenly vanished from in front of everyone's eyes.

Asano barely had time to react before he felt a warm breath against his neck as Ethan was leaning in close. "I would be careful in your place. You have your arm there but my Quirk has more uses and layers than you could imagine. And for the record, never ever call me by that name. Where I come from, people call me Easy, so stick to that...or else."

"Big talk from a big mouth. A big, shadowy mouth." Asano answered, not bothering to turn to face the other student, "I'll call you Easy only because it honestly reflects how hard of a matchup you'll be. You wanna pick a fight? You can have one as soon as you stop chasing yarn balls and laser pointers."

Ethan was about to respond when he was interrupted.

"This excuse for a conversation has taken a turn for the moronic. Can we move on to more productive activities now?" A female voice rang out from the crowd. Both boys turned, ready to confront the speaker, but only caught sight of a head of black hair as the girl turned and started walking away.

'Who was she again?' Asano thought, racking his memories to recall the girl's name.

"Oh, nice future for you. Girls walking away so fast, I thought you were the plague." Ethan chuckled, trying to get one last dig in, before he suddenly vanished again and popped up from the girl's shadow, only to get an elbow to his stomach. From what Asano could see, it wasn't too hard a blow, but the other boy still doubled over and fell to the ground, clutching his stomach in discomfort.

"Please. If you're going to sneak up on me, have the courtesy to actually be stealthy, or at least subtle about it. And please take a shower, because you smell of sweat." Her tone sounded completely sincere, which only seemed to infuriate Ethan all that much more.

Miss Delson approached the incapacitated student and slung him over her shoulder in a fireman's carry as she began the walk back to the main building, a waving Ethan grinning confidently at them from her shoulder, still wincing from whatever had happened to him.

"Head to the cafeteria for lunch, then to the classroom." She called to the other students. "You'll get the results from the test when you come in for the end of the day."

* * *

The results came in after lunch, with the students arriving at their classroom to find the test's leaderboard on the whiteboard at the head of the room. To absolutely nobody's surprise, Ethan sat at the bottom of it, his stellar performance in the softball throw not quite enough to repair the damage done by the Zero Point Disaster from the sprint, and his disinterest in the other events had certainly not helped his rank.

At the other end of the board, high up in the spot of honor, was Kageko, his early lead helping him retain an overall First Place.

Asano found himself at sixth place, which placed him just above Mina, the snowy haired girl, and just behind a name he didn't recognise. Upon closer inspection, he'd lost to the fifth by a margin he thought was totally unfair.

"Who the hell is Shiki?" Asano muttered, "Sixth place my ass, I should be in fifth. Did anyone even notice her?"

"Maybe they would have if I was senseless enough to start a very public argument over something as trivial as seventy metres." The female voice from earlier answered from behind him. "Maybe I'll try that next time, if there's a good reason to actually do it."

Asano spun to face the owner of the voice, quickly inspecting her with a critical eye

She was shorter than him, like most of the other students, standing at an average height of five foot four. She looked very average, packing visibly less muscle than him, but her obsidian black eyes stood out, as did her black hair that went just past her shoulders like an inky waterfall. There was also a notebook under her arm, which Asano found weird.

"Seventy metres is the reason I'm in sixth and he's in last." Asano answered, folding his arms, "AND, and this is very important; I'm not as much of a jackass as he is."

"You are just as arrogant. And lack focus on what truly matters." The girl commented in that sincere tone of hers that Asano found puzzling; it didn't sound like she was making fun of him, and he was certainly not used to her showing neither arrogance at beating him or fear from him almost towering over her.

"I take it you're Shiki?"

"In the flesh." She answered.

Asano was about to continue this conversation, but he was interrupted by the door opening, as

Ethan stepped inside, sporting a rather familiar looking baseball cap.

Asano focused on the taller student with a stern glare, and walked over to him.

"Where did you get that hat?" He demanded.

"Why, you jealous?" Ethan taunted, smirking at Asano, "Miss Delson wasn't paying enough attention to it, so I thought I would give it the owner it deserved."

Asano didn't respond. Instead, he reached up and flicked the cap off Ethan's head, trying to knock it to the floor but failing as the taller student caught it on the tip of his tail.

"Give it back to the teacher, Easy." Asano stated.

"Or what? You wanna step to me?"

Asano was about to respond, but once again was interrupted by the door opening. This time, Mr Young and Miss Delson walked into the room with papers and books in their arms.

"Students, your first day is over. Remember to take a copy of the handbook and curriculum booklet before you leave." Mr Young announced, "Feel free to explore the sectors a little, do some training of your choice, or perhaps you want to take some time and personalize your rooms a little, any belongings on you are in there along with anything given to us by your families or guardians; dinner is at seven-thirty, and curfew is at ten o'clock sharp, by which time you must all be in the dorm building. Lights-off will be eleven o'clock. You're free to miss your meals, but those who break curfew without good reason will face consequences."

"Rest up, I know it's been a rough day. For you and me both." Miss Delson added, "Tomorrow, training begins for real."

They looked over the students as they finished laying out the handbooks and booklets, and their eyes rested on Asano and Ethan. Mr Young sighed, a surprisingly weary sound.

"The two of you really should learn to get along." He commented. "After all, you'll be sitting next to each other for the rest of the year."

Asano and Ethan turned to stare at their teacher, their mouths agape.

"WHAT?!" they asked, in perfect unison.

* * *

**Finally, we see the characters in action. Sorry if I missed your character, I tried to fit in as many as I could, but there's only so much characterisation I could fit in. Any characters that have been missed will be shown in more detail in the next chapter, hopefully.**

**Thanks again for reading the story, and extra thanks for reviewing.**


	6. A Moment's Respite

**A Moment's Respite**

* * *

There was no doubt the dorm bed was infinitely better than hiding under a bridge in terms of comfort. Water from the showers stayed hot, the food was warm and surprisingly good, and for the first day, everyone seemed willing to play live and let live with everyone else. Asano kept himself separated from Ethan, not wanting to start a fight while everyone was exhausted, but he still found himself being congratulated by a few of the other students for his performance. It was a new experience, something Asano wasn't quite comfortable with, but it nonetheless gave him a warm feeling and put a smile on his face.

However, there was a perpetual tension that hung in the air, an unspoken weight on everyone's mind. It was still their adjustment period, and nobody knew how long that would last. Lunch had been devoid of conversation or much interaction between the students, the only sound being hungry people eating their fill, and them going up to the workers for top-ups and seconds. The cold feeling in the pit of Asano's stomach almost made him not bother, but his hunger overpowered his anxiety, and he quickly polished off plenty of ground beef and pasta in tomato sauce to make up for missing breakfast. It would have been more delicious if his mind had been on it.

After Mr Young dismissed the class, he quickly got his keys, found his room. and tossed his new handbook and booklet on the table inside. His room was sparsely decorated, there wasn't much he had hung onto from his past, mostly a change of clothes stuffed into his backpack, which he found on his chair, and the school had provided him with a desk that had a set of built-in drawers. He was also relieved to find basic toiletries inside the drawer of his new wardrobe: a brand-new toothbrush, a full tube of toothpaste, a plain-looking comb, shampoo and body wash, and a form for requesting additional items. On it was things like brand toothpaste, mouthwash, floss, antiseptic soap, all-purpose fur-and-hair maintenance kit, an impressive range of snacks, several brands of various instant food and noodles, and about fifty other things he didn't bother to read through, although he did notice an option for 'assorted savoury herbs for cooking'. He checked a few of the boxes for things he might need and put it in his pocket.

His wardrobe had more uniforms, with a few slightly different sets that he assumed was for winter, and a laundry bag lay quietly on the bottom, waiting to be filled and handed in at the security station. After another once-over of his room and making sure he had his new keys safely in his pocket, Asano decided to take a closer look at the parts of the compound that Lauren had pointed out to him on his way to the main hall.

He decided to begin with Sector Charlie after dropping the form off at the dorm office and was told he would get a new form along with the delivery. This would be his home for quite a while, so he should get to know the place top to bottom. The dorm building was a simple construction, plain grey walls that bent at a right angle at the square in the middle, separating the Boys Wing and the Girls Wing, with the communal area situated where the bulge in the middle was, featuring a common lounge with a small kitchen and a fridge off to a side room, several bookshelves in the corners, and a sleek 32-inch tv mounted on the wall. Each wing had fifteen rooms, with a large bathroom situated at the very end. Outside, the building had a plaza so the students had somewhere to gather outside in relative privacy, the small but colorful garden and patches of grass a stark contrast to the grey concrete. If this was a prison, Asano decided, it was at least a very nice one.

After familiarizing himself with Charlie, Asano decided to head for Bravo, the training area. The giant metal gate was shut, but Asano just mimicked what he had seen Lauren do, laying his hand against the pad that was installed in the wall. The pad beeped in confirmation, then the gate slid open without so much as a whisper. He took a quick look at the impressive gym and the full range of fitness equipment in it, but the place felt large and empty and intimidating without anyone else inside, and outside was already dark. He checked around quickly, memorizing the changing room's location as best he could, and made his way out.

Just then, an announcement blared over the speaker system that it was seven-thirty and dinner would be served in the cafeteria today, and Asano made his way over to the cafeteria, for once actually anticipating his next meal in a way that wasn't about whether he would have one.

Dinner was a steaming bowl of cream and mushroom soup, followed by a nice plate of rice with peas and carrots, with a meat of their choice between chicken and fish. Dessert was a rather generous slab of chocolate brownie and tea for any student who wanted it. Asano had never been much of a tea drinker, but he took a cup anyway, figuring it could help him relax, at least a little. He picked a table at random and found himself next to Shiki, the strange girl who had edged him out in the rankings this morning.

"So, fifth place," He began, trying to start a conversation, "Pretty impressive. You don't exactly look like a powerhouse, but I guess everyone has a surprise up their sleeve."

"It actually is not much of a surprise. Think about it." She replied, closing her notebook and focusing her attention on him. 'Huh', Asano thought. She didn't seem like the type to enjoy small talk that much, yet she pitched in almost immediately.

"If you think things through and make your plans with consideration, you get a result that befits the effort you put in. Whatever the situation, he who plans out his resources carefully, waits for the optimal timing, recognizes the optimal opportunity and has preparations to catch it, will 'win' as a matter of fact."

"Planning and consideration can only take you so far," Asano retorted, "Especially against people who can teleport, or throw a ball as hard as I can."

"Yes, that is completely true...but I was not using the word 'win' in the conventional sense. A plan is simply a series of steps you take to accomplish your desired goal. For a teleporter like Iwata, I would recognize where he could teleport to, where he would teleport to, and make preparations from there. Against someone with impressive strength like you, I would take your power and physical ability into consideration when I make my plans. If it is irrelevant to my goal, I don't do so."

Asano blinked a few times, trying to absorb the information dump Shiki had just delivered; she definitely wasn't making small talk with where she was going. She saw his reaction and sighed quietly.

"Let me put it this way. Let's say you want to get seconds for your soup. Now, you would stand up and make your way to the counter, and everything in that path is something you would have to consider and avoid bumping into because you can't break it. Let's also say Ethan...Easy over there would try and start a fight with you otherwise, but he is busy chowing down his fish, so you wouldn't have to consider him getting in your way, and his ability to stop you from getting your soup would be irrelevant in your plan to do so."

"That doesn't explain how you got fifth. It's something from your quirk right?" Asano asked, still slightly confused

"My Quirk...is complicated and doesn't work like that." Her face turned just a shade darker and she seemed to be struggling with herself, although it was subtle enough that Asano almost missed it. "It only enhances all my physical abilities a moderate amount at any given time, and certainly not on a level comparable to the way you enhance yourself."

She paused, chewing on her rice. "I deduced as best as I could about what the challenges would be and planned out the effort I would put into each one...although I must admit, I miscalculated on the softball coming after the endurance run. Every challenge tests a different aspect of our physical ability, and with Quirks allowed for every test, it also tests the situations in which they can be used, the extent to which they can be used, and our ability to recognize when to use them." She shoved a piece of chicken into her mouth and ate it before going on.

"I'd say Iwata's training will be especially gruelling because the way he used his Quirk bypassed many barriers and completely mooted the point of some challenges. The long jump, for example. Anyway, I planned it so I had enough left in me to properly complete all the challenges. The endurance run was left for second-to-last because they figured we would get competitive over the others and overexert ourselves, which could be dangerous in the field." She looked over and noticed Asano had started to play with his food, rolling a small lump of rice around. "Are you...keeping up with all this?"

"You lost me a couple of sentences back, but I get the gist of it." Asano admitted, "You kept in mind that there would be six tests, so you didn't go all out on any of them. So while you never placed that high on any of the tests, you did well enough overall to earn fifth."

"Very concise summary. I respect that." Shiki commented, finishing the last of her brownie. Asano could've sworn she still had her plate half-full last he checked, and now she was already finished?

"I'm going to take a short walk around before bed; you'll find me in the common room before that. I also saw Mr Young and Miss Delson preparing some sort of colored armband when I last saw them. I'm thinking tomorrow will have us taking classes first and then some kind of intense team activity, so you should probably make sure you get rested. That arm of yours looks like it might be troublesome to control if you don't have enough rest." She observed before gathering her tray, wiping away a stain on the table and standing up to hand it in, leaving Asano with his thoughts.

Those thoughts were rudely interrupted by four students sitting down at his table. Three girls and one boy sat around him, not bothering to bring their trays with them.

"Evening… Asano, wasn't it?" The boy queried, drawing Asano's attention to him.

This one had broad shoulders, with bodybuilder muscles and black hair that spiked up. His grey eyes were marked with three scar lines that curved down just above his right eye.

"I'm Kusari. Last name Kennomi, but hey, just call me Kusari," He explained, "We just thought we'd-"

"Come over and say hi," One of the girls interrupted.

She was small, with light pink hair tied up in a high ponytail, and golden eyes. She had a particularly unimpressed look on her face as she inspected Asano.

"Don't know why we bother, you're not exactly a looker, and sixth place is hardly an achievement."

Normally, that kind of comment wouldn't even get a rise out of Asano. He'd been insulted before, more times than he cared to count. But for some reason, when this girl said it, he was genuinely insulted. He didn't know what it was, but something made him care about this girl's opinion of him.

He forced himself to switch focus and landed on of the other girls.

The one he ended up focusing on was again, quite small, with short red hair styled to look like a boy, and icy blue eyes that almost made Asano shiver.

"C'mon Yu, don't be like that," Kusari pleaded with the pink-haired girl, "At least introduce yourself."

"Fine," She answered, sticking her hand out across the table, "Yuwaka Arai."

Asano shook it, and she retracted it quickly. Next, the red-haired girl extended her hand.

"Charlotte Swan." She said curtly in a slight German accent, "Don't try to talk to me."

Finally, the last girl extended her hand.

She was easily the strangest of the four, and that was saying a lot. She had messy black hair that turned red just before the tips, muted red eyes that seemed to be void of any expression and deathly pale skin. She had several scars across her arms, but what really caught Asano's attention was the empty sword sheath she carried on her back.

"Ayuna Mochizuku." She drawled lazily as if she was only half awake.

"Aren't you a merry bunch." Asano commented, leaning back in his chair. "Well, for what it's worth, Asano Torio is the name, and my game...well, you just saw it this afternoon."

"Hell yeah, we did!" Kusari added, "Man that was crazy, what even is your quirk?"

"You'll see tomorrow." Asano said, deflecting the question, "I heard we're doing a team activity, so just watch, and you'll get to see it in full detail."

"I don't think that answers the question...but we all gotta have some privacy right? You do you." Kusari replied, his cheer seemingly indomitable.

Yuwaka huffed, then stood up. "Well, as nice as it has been chatting with you, which, for the record, it hasn't been, I'm going now." She turned and walked away, the other two girls following her.

"See ya, Asano," Kusari said, standing up himself. "Maybe we'll be on the same team tomorrow,"

"Only one way to find out," Asano answered cryptically, "Later, Kusari."

* * *

After dinner, Asano returned to the dorm. He had already seen most of Sector Alpha during his tour with Lauren, so he didn't bother exploring it. Plus, even though he would never admit it, he was eager to sleep in a real bed for a change. By the time he arrived at the dorm building, it was approaching eight thirty, so most of the other students were milling around the common area, tired from the rigorous exercise they had gone through. A few of them acknowledged his presence, but most of them ignored him, wrapped up in whatever form of entertainment they had chosen to pass the time. Asano walked a bit further into the room, making his way to one of the bookcases in the corner. He quickly perused the titles, searching for ones he recognised, but they were completely unknown to him. He was about to give up and head to his room, when a loud voice caught his attention.

"Fellow students!" Kageko called loudly from the middle of the room, "Or vigilantes, whatever you prefer!"

Nearly every set of eyes in the room turned to face the teleporter, who had made his mark by winning the top spot.

"What do you want, Blinky!" Ethan called from his seat in front of the TV, keeping his back to Kageko without turning away from the sports news on the screen showing a professional tennis match.

"After our first lesson together as a class, I feel it is imperative that we discuss it as a group, and compare notes on the teachers, and this program as a whole. I believe it would be an enlightening experience."

"What is there to discuss?" Came Ethan's bored voice, still focused on the match. "All of them are pedantic losers, and that's what they'll be until we get out of here."

"They're only like that to you because you're always stepping over the line!" Catherine, the girl with green and black hair, called back to him, as she dropped herself into a beanbag chair, and began tuning an electric guitar that looked a little too heavy for someone her size.

"Pleh. I'm not like the rest of you sheep, following orders like...sheep," He said, lacking any more creative terms to insult the others with.

"Regardless!" Kageko exclaimed, interrupting the debate between the students. "Could we please gather in a circle, so we can discuss our situation like civil people."

The students began to half-heartedly organise themselves into a circle, dragging chairs into place. Even Ethan joined in, although it was only because the sports news was over. It took them a while, but eventually the circle was formed, and students began to speak.

"I think Miss Delson was a soldier." Yuito, the girl with the bear-hairclip, suggested, "The way she behaves, and the way she's dressed, she acts like a soldier from a movie."

"The military isn't really that simple, Yuito." Lucina answered, "She's probably just a stern teacher or education official or something. Maybe prison school experience."

"I'll bet prison school," Asano added, "After all, that's basically what this is plus more luxury 'cause we aren't 'real' criminals, it makes sense to pick someone from that line of work for this program."

"You've got it the wrong way round," Charlotte interjected, standing up to draw attention, "She's an Ex-Pro, Mr Young was a soldier."

"How the hell would you know that?" Kazumi, the snake-like white haired girl retorted, "Neither of them have said a single thing about themselves, which I know because I've been listening, and seeing that I'm not deaf, I would have heard something."

"You've been listening to what they said," Charlotte replied coldly, "I, on the other hand, was reading their thoughts. And yours, by the way. You thought I was overconfident and running my mouth, didn't you."

This announcement had a variety of effects on the students huddled in the circle. Half of them jumped back, hiding behind things, clapping their hands over their ears, insisting that Charlotte not read their thoughts, while the other half lunged forward, insisting that Charlotte tried it out on them. Asano suppressed the instinctive feeling that he was being violated, took a deep breath, and checked around. Counting himself, four people had stayed where they were, although the effects of Charlotte's revelation were clearly visible.

"It's like we're back in friggin pre-school." Ethan grumbled. Then, raising his voice over the ruckus, he yelled, "Stop pestering the girl like she's friggin Santa Claus, and get your arses back in your chairs! Are you toddlers or vigilantes?"

The students returned to their seat, hanging their heads slightly, while Charlotte shot Ethan a slightly grateful look, tinged slightly with confusion.

"Don't look at me like that, you're still creepy. I just don't want to know that I'm going to be a Pro Hero alongside a bunch of children."

Kageko cleared his throat loudly. "Thank you for being honest with us, Charlotte, though I think you all owe her an apology. At least, the ones who almost dogpiled her," He said, sweeping a glare across the offending students.

"Not sorry in the slightest...okay, maybe a little," Kazumi commented with a wide grin, "You look funny when you're angry. Should see your face right now." She added.

"What do you guys think about the compound?" Mina queried, "Don't you think the walls are a little too high? And all those robots? how dangerous do they think we are?"

"Walls keep things out too." Ayuna answered, "Maybe there's something out there that they're protecting us from?"

"Is that supposed to make us feel better when we literally have no way of knowing where we are?" Raul asked, a hint of exasperation in his tone.

"Worrying about that isn't going to help us right now," Damien said, "Let's finish up on this...maybe write it down or something? I'm getting tired. I'm sure some of you are too. Plus, I haven't had my shower yet."

A chorus of agreement sounded out from the class, while Kageko broke out the pen and paper and scribbled down Charlotte's assertions of the teachers' professions. Asano found himself wondering where he was hiding them beforehand, but shelved his curiosity, instead heading towards his room to prepare for the day to come. He noticed Shiki closing her notebook and slipping her mechanical pencil into the holder on it. When had she…?

He found the items he'd checked on the form in a package at his door, and after some quick unpacking and stacking (mostly stuffing them into where they would fit), Asano gathered his new loose cotton shirt and pants along with the bag with toiletries, and went to take a shower.

As he lay back on the bed, clad only in the bottom half of his pajamas, he reflected on the wild day he had just experienced. His thoughts absentmindedly drifted to how Ethan and Shiki were doing, before he drifted off into a dreamless sleep, a welcome change from the nightmares he was occasionally subject to during his time living on the street.

* * *

Asano woke up as a ray of light shone through the frosted window in his room, piercing his eyelids and banishing any hope of returning to sleep from his mind. He got out of bed and stretched, marveling at how much better he had slept compared to only yesterday. He almost let out a triumphant yell, but he didn't know how soundproof these walls were, and he didn't want to disturb anyone. Instead, he pulled on his school uniform and flung open his door, ready to face whatever the day had in store.

* * *

**Finally, we have all the characters introduced, with at least a little detail about their appearance, and a hint towards their personality. Also, sorry for miss-spelling the names of a few characters, I'll try not to make that mistake again.**

**Thanks again for reading, and extra thanks to those who leave a review**


	7. Head to Head

**Head to Head**

* * *

The prisoners stood silently in a line in the prison cafeteria, sliding their trays along the serving bench, waiting for their rations of the day, then spreading out across the many tables that lined the hall. It was a dreary sight to behold, but one that the prisoners had become accustomed to, and if they weren't they were well on their way. After all, many of them had spent the last few years locked up in here, and the only thing they had coming was more years of imprisonment. It was a tactic this prison employed: keeping those soon to be freed apart from the other inmates, both to keep them disciplined and discouraging anyone's 'prison buddies' from organizing an unwanted disturbance. Say, a breakout.

There was only one prisoner who broke this trend, the slight smile he wore on his face making him stand out like a sore thumb among the rows of gloomy frowns or vicious scowls. He sat by himself at a table, gracefully eating the meal in front of him as if he was at a famous fine dining establishment and keeping his eyes locked on the clock that hung on the cafeteria wall. When the long hand reached six, a guard pushed a trolley through, collecting the trays from those who had finished. When he passed the man's table, the man handed him the wrapper that had contained his baked potato.

The guard took it with a nod and moved on, pushing the trolley down the hall to the back of the kitchen. The man's smile widened just a fraction, and he opened his hand under the table. He'd received exactly what he wanted, a list of names, another list of names and numbers, and a sleek, miniature earpiece he quickly slipped into his right ear.

He abruptly stood, and walked out, heading for the prison yard. The earpiece crackled to life as soon as he reached the open sky.

"Hey, boss, we've got you on camera now, say hi." a voice rasped out from the earpiece

"Hi. And what with you wasting my time with such pleasantries, I do hope you have a progress report to go with it." The prisoner muttered, trying to conceal his speech from any onlookers.

"I do. Every one of our brothers in there has one of these babies. Didn't come cheap, but then we ain't sparing no expense here." The voice continued, typing on a keyboard as he spoke.

"That sounds good, but that's a worrying lack of 'progress' in the 'progress report' I asked for." The prisoner stated, his voice hard and cold.

"We've got all the guns, ammo and explosives we need, and we're close on the vehicles. You give the signal, we can have you out of that landfill in a week."

"I doubt you need reminding, but you know that's not up to my standards. In any case, do you have the person I've, ah, made an appointment with?"

"We have him. Just come around the corner. We left a trail."

He followed the trail and found another prisoner, sitting on a bench with a serious expression on his face. He was surrounded by other inmates, and the picture it formed was almost a rare one of peace in the rowdy prison if you conveniently overlooked the ones leaning on the wall, trying and completely failing to act like a non-suspicious lookout. Well, he had given specific instructions to that end, but time in prison does things to people. He didn't get where he was by killing his own people for fun; those were the inhuman amateurs and wannabes who got paid in lead. From the police or their own underlings who could take it no longer, it made no difference.

"Arthur Drebbel. What a pleasure to finally meet you face to face. I hope my boys here weren't overly rough in convincing you to come here?"

"Hah. Virgil...or perhaps I should call you Darkangel?"

"Oh, no. You aren't wearing your mask, and I'm not in some shoddy wheelchair stroking my cat. So please, call me Virgil."

"Such camaraderie. I suppose you'll tell me that I've meddled in your affairs for the last time, and then I'll be dragged off somewhere and dig my own shallow grave? Or do you prefer the pool full of sharks approach?"

"Let's see...personally, I'd just strip you down and tell you to walk off a cliff. However, I didn't have you brought here to do any of that. I want to make you an offer."

"Are you being serious? You think I'll work for you? Did they hit your head too hard when they dragged you into your cell?"

"Yes, yes, and no, I suppose not. I'd have to kill the guard who did, and I do hate killing. Such a waste of...of a life that could accomplish so much. Worse waste of potential than the Ninja Turtles."

"And you care so much about what people will accomplish, do you? Last I checked you were running a criminal empire. Or did I miss your charity work somewhere in there?"

"I do care...I'm giving work to those who want it, I'm selling weapons and drugs to those who need them, and as you know I'm in the logistics business; you have no idea how much cargo needs shipping around those routes. And just to be clear, I donate twice a year to Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders in the millions, I've volunteered at the local rehab centre as well as invested in their R&D to develop buses for the disabled, and I absolutely refuse to touch slaves, endangered species and their goods, like shark fins and ivory or illegal lumber. Oh no."

"You make it seem like I'm the bad guy for getting you locked up. Is it really that hard to balance your conscience? Do you need to do so much just to sleep at night?"

"Now that you mention it, I had a perfectly good nap at the cinema after I strangled the spy from the yakuza with my own hands and my men cut down all the yakuza cells in the area. To be fair, he was trying to ruin me, he had some nice friends from the Russian mafia with automatic weapons waiting at the exits, and he put three bombs with completely different activation mechanisms in my car and scratched the paint; all this a week after his group caused a traffic pileup to try and kill me, and instead killed four children and a baby when they rammed another car in just for good measure. So I say my anger was justified there. He even bought the last hotdog...I mean, who does that? But to answer your question: no, that was not for my conscience. I just think they have a good cause and are worthy of my support."

"Well, the way I see it, you were responsible for all the crime in my community, you almost killed my sister, and you nearly killed me a few times to top it off. So was my anger justified in your eyes?"

"Come now, Arthur. If I didn't think so, you would already be dead. I thought that crime lord from India wasn't justified kidnapping and selling girls into slavery; I had him tortured in his own torture room with his own tools, and took over the region he was operating out of. The girls who were still alive runs it for me, they're loyal and street-smart. I thought that couple who ordered two hundred shark fins for their wedding weren't justified; I bought out his company and aired her dirty laundry in which she had her younger sister murdered to get more inheritance. I destroyed their lives the way they destroyed the sharks'. As the sharks live a short while without their fins, so too did they. The fact that my donations could now come entirely from honest coin was a side benefit I think both the charities and I enjoyed.

He paused and took a sip of water. "As for you and your sister, you couldn't see past the bad I did, and the same goes for dear Lauren. I'm very sorry about her company, I promise you I had nothing to do with that. So answer me this, Arthur. What crime of mine do you think I organized or approved of without cause or reason?"

"Enough with your moral qualifications," Arthur growled, "What's your offer, and what do you want from me."

Virgil sighed as if speaking to a stubborn child. "You have to understand my methods to understand my offer. I want you to join me as a...temporary subordinate. Or tentative partner, if you so wish. I will provide financial support for Lauren, and evidence of her usurpers' shadier dealings, through you of course. I will also give you information on those who are truly making people miserable and the world a worse place to live in, and you can measure them on your scale of justice. I am making this offer because I think your anger is justified, as well as your standard of justice. I should remind you now: I am not the one who put you in cuffs and dragged you here."

"So you're gonna point out the people who you think really deserve justice, and you want me to be the delivery service you use?"

"I wouldn't quite call it that, but the analogy works, I suppose. Let me give you an example. Do you know who are the ones truly responsible for putting you here? Not the police, they are merely enforcing the law; not your judge or prosecutor, they just work with that law; and certainly not the Pro Heroes, at least not the honorable ones who make it their duty to defend the innocent. No. It is the human scum across the Pro Hero Industry, who hires lobbyists and sponsors politicians and their parties to write such a law that makes you and your work illegal. You vigilantes have no public profile, and you fight crime for free. In their eyes, they do not see the grateful people and society in general that are made safer, only the dents you make in their ad revenues, sponsorships, and most of all, the effect that has on their checks. Sorry for boring you with this villainous monologue.

His sighed again."There are other elements, of course, such as that All for One fellow, who I think just wants to world to burn for a laugh; or his pupil who unironically puts a hand on his face and expects people to take him seriously, but those are of the underworld. MY domain. I'd rather someone like you, who has his heart in the right place, not stare into that abyss, but we can work something out. Does that answer your question?"

"All but one," Arthur answered, standing up to face Virgil properly, "How are you planning on getting us out of here?"

Virgil smiled. "Ah, but not so fast. Do I have your word that you would not sabotage my effort? I assure you that I have a plan. I'd rather not execute it, but this vacation is getting a little too long for my comfort."

"Fine, you have my word, I swear on my mother's grave or whatever you consider important,"

Vergil's face darkened and Arthur saw the kingpin of an international crime empire standing in front of him. "Oaths are made to be broken, so I'll just pretend I didn't hear that. And you should have more respect for your late mother." His face relaxed, and once again Arthur was facing the middle-aged idealist who had seen an empty Hell and the demons on Earth. "For what it's worth, I had carnations placed at her grave, in your name. I know you do so regularly, and also that you've missed this time because you were being transferred here. You are also invited to tell me if my subordinates are making the world worse for wear."

He gestured to the men who had been sitting on either side of Arthur. One produced a pen, unscrewed it and tipped out the hollow-point bullet inside, while the other produced a similar earpiece and handed to Arthur, even as Virgil tapped his own twice, hearing it crackle as he was once again connected to the wider network.

"I hope you've gotten those vehicles in the last two hours, Samson. You have three days."

* * *

Asano had thought he was prepared for the day to come. After the best sleep he had experienced in a long time, he had joined his class for breakfast, then they had moved to the classrooms for lessons. Academics were fairly straightforward; Young made half-hearted attempts to make the lessons interesting, and Asano appreciated the effort enough to pay attention. He'd almost thought learning was kind of fun when those ended and the 'Hero Lessons' began. It was then that Asano remembered just how much he disliked learning about aspects of heroism. They studied a mixture of heroic ethics, laws regarding Pro Heroes, and hero tactics, and by the end of it, Asano felt like he had a textbook lodged in his skull, and Ethan's constant presence beside him did not help in the slightest.

The moment they had announced lunch was the high point of his day, made even better when they had told the students to be in Sector Bravo after lunch, as the second half of the lesson would be a practical exercise. It seemed like his enthusiasm was shared by the rest of the class, as even the usually stoic and calm Shiki seemed to have a small smile on her face. The students quickly ate their lunch, the excitement in the air almost palpable as the students debated on what they would be doing. A lot of theories were presented, ranging from sensible to crackpot, but based on the evidence, everyone settled on one idea. A training battle.

By the time the students made it to Sector Bravo, the teachers were already there waiting for them, Mr Young once again holding his signature clipboard. The students quickly arranged themselves into the usual two rows of ten, and stood quietly, awaiting further instructions.

Mr Young cleared his throat, and began speaking. "As many of you have probably guessed, today, we will be conducting some competitive training exercises. You will be divided into groups of three, and the groups will compete against each other. Any questions?"

Two hands went up, belonging to Varik and Takeshi respectively. Mr Young looked over the two, and picked Varik first.

"Please don't tell me we have to actually fight each other?" Varik asked in a slightly alarmed tone, "I don't know if you noticed, but we're not exactly all on the same level."

"Combat will be a key component, yes," Miss Delson answered, "But it will not be necessary for success. Defeating your opponent will undoubtedly aid or even assure your victory, but only completing the objective will actually count as a win."

"What's the objective then?" Asano yelled from his position at the back of the class.

"If you want to ask a question, Torio, raise your hand." Mr Young replied, as he indicated for Takeshi to ask her question.

"Why are we doing it in groups of three? With twenty of us, won't there be two left over?" The rock-haired girl asked.

"Excellent question," Mr Young replied. "While yes, having you in teams of two would make it easier to organise, there would also be less room for strategy, and it would be far harder to make it an even match. As such, we've elected to form the final team from four students who have already participated."

The class erupted into a discussion, only to be silenced by Mr Young raising his hand once again.

"We will decide on the final teams after the other matches have taken place, but don't worry. This is not the last time we will be doing this training exercise, so you will have an opportunity to participate more than once in any battle. Now with that settled, I'll let Miss Delson explain the rules."

"First off, the standard rules. Your objective is to take the flag from enemy territory and make sure it ends up in the circle around your own flag. All Quirks allowed, but we will not tolerate inflicting unnecessary harm on your opponents. In that field you're teammates or enemies; outside of it, you're all good-hearted vigilantes who are classmates and colleagues.

Now for the not-so-common rules. You've noticed that you don't win as soon as the flag crosses the boundary. You need to take it back to your side, but the one who actually takes the flag must pass it on to a teammate within two feet of the boundary line. Alternatively, you could take the flag and throw it all the way into the circle. However…" She lifted two clear glass bottles. One was green and the other had two distinct layers: dark blue on top of blood red. She made sure everyone saw it, and continued.

"The green bottle is a drug. It is vital to...someone's survival. If your objective is to get this bottle, you only have ten minutes, which is incidentally the time limit for one match. The red-and-blue bottle is a bomb." This announcement sent a wave of muttering through the students. Delson let them stew for a moment before clearing her throat, silencing them. "As you see, the bomb's activation mechanism is simple but deadly." She tilted the bottle many different ways, rolled it in her hand and even threw it up in the air. The two layers of color stayed stubbornly separate. "Nobody except the most feverish maniacs want to blow themselves up with their own contraption. So it can take its fair share of rough handling." She shook the bottle lightly, and the colors mixed into a deep, impenetrable black. A shrill alarm rang out across the field. "Keep in mind: you don't know what movement will be the one to set it off. Once this mixes, an alarm will go off on our end. That means the bomb has gone off, and everyone has died. Both teams will have failed."

A had went up. "Then what if someone shakes it on purpose? Or someone breaks the drug bottle?"

It was apparent that Miss Delson was prepared, because her answer was immediate. "If the side holding the bomb shakes it on purpose, That team fails automatically, and we will discuss whether to kick them out of the Program, which will mean shutting down entirely."

Shocked gasps and mutterings rolled across the students before Delson spoke again. "Our purpose is to make you into proper Pro Heroes. I understand that Scorched Earth is a valid tactic and that sometimes it's better to destroy something than let the enemy get their hands on it. However, in this case all of you know for a fact that this is a weapon of mass destruction. The drug, on the other hand, is fair play. The only rule is that the side with the bottle cannot harm it in any way until the other team has removed it from its original position. In this case, both teams will suffer a heavy penalty: the guarding team for having to resort to such a drastic move, and the other team for allowing this to happen to the prize they've already gotten."

The two teachers waited for a moment for any more questions, and when no hands went up, Mr Young raised his clipboard.

"The first match will be Kageko, Ethan and Lucina, versus Catherine, Mina and Kusari. And the field will be an urban wasteland. Think of an abandoned warehouse or factory. Make of it what you will. You now have ten minutes to prepare, and ten minutes for the actual battle. You must remain in the boundaries of the field and may not talk to or attack the other side, but other than that, you are free."

With those final words, the students divided into two groups. The six who would be competing this round were left behind with Miss Delson, while the other twelve were escorted away by Mr Young. Miss Delson escorted the six students towards the changing rooms.

"Inside, you will find your old vigilante costumes. We've modified them slightly, they're more durable now, and should reduce some physical damage."

"Why are we using our old costumes, wouldn't it be easier to just give us new equipment?" Catherine asked

"Because you're already used to your old costumes. You've no doubt designed them to counter your weaknesses and enhance your strengths, so they will display your skills fully." Miss Delson answered as they reached the changing rooms.

"Get changed quickly, then head to the field."

* * *

Kageko, Ethan and Lucina stood outside their entrance to the training arena, dressed in their vigilante costumes. Kageko simply wore black sweatpants, a black shirt, a black mask with holes for his eyes, and black, steel-capped boots. The teleporter didn't need much equipment for his quirk, which cut down on his equipment load, but left his costume rather plain looking. Ethan's costume was similarly basic, consisting of a dark blue hoodie over a dark green shirt, with black pants and combat boots. Lucina again had a simple costume, with just a blue sweater, jeans, sneakers, and a backpack with several bottles of water inside.

Ethan stuffed his hands in his pockets and turned to Kageko. "Well, how are we planning to do this? Does Lord Firstplace have some enlightenment for us plebs? Do any of us even know which bottle we've taken?"

"The bottle doesn't really matter, all that matters is keeping it out of our opponents hands," Kageko answered, "I suggest Ethan and I take the offencive, while Lucina remains at our base to keep the bottle out of enemy hands."

"Why the hell would you bother coming, you'd just slow me down." Ethan replied, taking his hands out of his pocket and folding his arms.

"Because we need to pass it over the halfway line, remember? Ethan?" Lucina commented, trying to mediate between the two students, "I'm ok with sticking to defence, I can set up some water all over to give myself plenty of options."

"Yeah, and the other team are all blind. You made a nice, big show of it on the tall jump, along with Claw Girl. Do you remember the tests? Mina was the one asking what to do if a Quirk wasn't good for physicals. I'll bet you money her Quirk is like that."

"I know that" Lucina replied, "But they won't have much choice, if the whole area is covered in water, they'll have to go into the water in order to get to the bottle, and then I can get them."

"Ethan does have a point. The teachers know all our Quirks, and the teams were chosen specifically, not randomly picked. Look at us." He spread his arms. "Ethan, me, and you, Lucina. This is a very aggressive team. That's what I would say if I were judging us at the physicals. That means the enemy team is probably high on defense, or equally good at attacking."

"This is making my head hurt." Ethan grumbled. "So we get the bottle, Lucina stays back, yeah? Let's say Lord Firstplace gets his hands on the thing. Do I wait at the line or what?"

"We should move as a team. Our quirks will allow for hit and run tactics, so we get in, get out, then switch at the halfway point, while one stays back to delay our opponents. And if we run into the opposing offensive, you will intercept while I move ahead."

"Fine," Ethan replied, "So long as you don't screw anything up, we should have this in the bag."

* * *

The subjects of their conversation, Catherine, Mina and Kusari, stood behind a similar door on the opposite side of the arena, having huddled up in their own discussion. Catherine's costume was a tasteful red leather jacket, jeans, combat boots and a pair of sunglasses with blue lenses. She also carried her guitar across her back on a strap.

Mina had a black hoodie, black sweatpants and white shoes, along with red and black padded fingerless gloves, and a medical mask over her lower face. Her costume had arrived with a cheap-looking wig, but she had discarded that almost immediately.

Kusari's costume was incredibly simple, consisting of boxing shorts that covered his knees, white sneakers and boxing tape wrapped around his knuckles. Catherine wondered how he had expected to not get caught, running around in that getup, or even what he wore for winter. What kind of idiot fights crime shirtless?

"So I asked Miss Delson, and we have many invisible friends. They've already placed the bottle in a secure location which we know about, and then they buggered off and left us to guard it. And we have to take the bottle from the other team, which for some reason we also know the location of." Kusari informed his teammates, oblivious to Catherine's judging stares, "So how's this for a plan: I'll stay here on defence, and you two go after the bottle."

"You sure?" Mina asked, "They have Kageko and Ethan on their team, and they'll probably go straight for the flag since they're the fastest. It might be better for me to go on defence, I can at least stop one of them."

"Trust me, my quirk will keep them from getting the bottle, and even if they grab it, they can't escape. I'll stop whoever, for at least three minutes."

"Three minutes. That's an awfully small window given that they might already have our bottle." Catherine commented.

"Three minutes, plus the time it takes them to actually arrive, it could be what we need to win." Mina replied, lowering her mask to cool her face.

"So we're agreed then? I'll stay and guard the bottle, you two go on the attack?"

"Alright, deal." Catherine said, "Let's do this."

* * *

Inside the observation room, the other students stood with the teachers, observing the field through strategically placed security cameras.

Miss Delson spoke into the microphone, her voice booming out across the field.

"Ready! Three, Two, One…" She announced

"GO!"

* * *

**Woot, another chapter finished. An update for the villains, and the setup for the first training match.**

**I hope everyone likes how their characters have been written. I apoligise for any mistakes, feel free to correct me about any glaring ones you notice.**

**Once again, thanks for reading, and extra thanks for reviewing.**


	8. The First Match

**The First Match**

* * *

At Miss Delson's signal, the doors that barred entrance to the training arena swung open, accompanied by the sounding of a buzzer. Kusari, Catherine and Mina dashed into the arena, quickly moving to locate their designated bottle. The bottle was inside one of the many buildings that filled the arena, seated in the middle of a painted circle on the first floor, located on a chest-of-drawers inside the circle, although it was best not to ask why the whole thing was in the middle of the room. They'd ended up with the bomb, its two colours reflecting the light across the room in strange colours. The room itself wasn't a particularly defensible area, with access points all over the place, but given the nature of what they were protecting, Kusari decided that he prefered having to protect the bomb over the medicine.

"Alright, you two get going!" Kusari instructed, "We're going ahead with the plan."

"Don't need to tell me twice," Mina fired back, pushing open the door and darting out, Catherine following close behind.

Kusari took a deep breath and glanced around. As expected, not much he could use to mount a defense, but he could at least do something about what he already knew. Ethan had a nasty habit of using the shadows, and he didn't know the limits or extent of it, so he turned around until he was facing his shadow. He hoped that would be of some help; he'd just turned away from at least five easy access points.

* * *

On the other side of the arena, Kageko, Ethan and Lucina found their own bottle in a similar-looking building, once again left atop a chest of drawers. They had gotten the medicine, which meant time was on their side. They could play defensive for ten minutes and they would win. Unfortunately, they'd already decided on their strategy, and this knowledge didn't change that.

"Right. Anyone having second thoughts now that we know what we have on our hands?" Kageko asked, quickly inspecting the room for anything they could use to their advantage. No such luck, but he'd only been looking for a minute.

"Let's just end this quickly, I don't want to hang around with you any longer than I have to." Ethan retorted, rolling his shoulders and cracking his knuckles.

"I was hoping to avoid something like that. We move as a team, Ethan. You do know what 'team' means, don't you?" Kageko replied, looking up for a place he could use as a viewpoint, hopefully spot the other team's offensive, if not their base.

"Doesn't mean I have to like it, Oh Lord First-Place." He grumbled. Kageko shook his head and disappeared, reappearing on the top of another building some distance away. He looked around and flashed back.

"Nope. nothing." Kageko reported. "Hey Ethan, if you can look from inside of a shadow without coming out of it, do you mind doing a little scouting around? A clear path to their base or their attack force, doesn't matter which. Just please, look."

"It's Easy, and no, I can't do that. As soon as I enter a shadow I come out the other side, I can't 'hide' inside it. Though I have another trick that might help," He replied with an evil glint in his eyes.

"Good. I'll keep looking from high up. Come back in three, no, one minute. I'll do the same, we can compare notes. Lucina, please, go ahead and prepare your defense." As soon as his teammates nodded his acknowledgement, Kageko disappeared again.

Ethan rolled his shoulders before his shadow began rippling like a body of water. "You might want to step back a bit, he doesn't like other people that much," Ethan said over his shoulder to Lucina who watched the shadow with interest.

"He?" She replied in confusion, "Who is 'he'?"

"You'll see," Ethan answered, as he knelt down to touch the rippling surface of his shadow. Moments later, a black hand reached out from the shadow, clawing at the ground as it pulled itself up. It looked almost identical to Ethan, only it was pure black, as though it was made of ink or shadows.

It opened its mouth as if to speak, but all that came out was a low growling noise.

"Isn't that just you?" Lucina tilted her head.

"Almost, not quite." Ethan answered curtly, turning away from his teammate. He stepped into a nearby shadow and disappeared from sight, with the shadowy clone of him following soon after.

As soon as her two teammates were gone, Lucina began to pull the many bottles of water out of her backpack, placing them in groups around the windows and doors that surrounded the room. She unscrewed the caps, preparing them for easy use, and returned to the centre of the room.

She had only barely done so when Kageko reappeared, almost tripping over himself to avoid a group of bottles. "One minute sharp. Where's Ethan?"

"He left just after you did," Lucina answered, "Did you see anything?"

"I found a clear path to the other team's base. Not much shadow but there should be enough." He was about to leave again when Ethan's head popped up from the shadow he'd left through.

"I found their attacking team!" Ethan announced.

"What? Where are they?" Kageko demanded. "Scratch that, where are you?"

"Your glorious plan, Blinky. I'll intercept, you go get that bottle. I can take both of them."

"What happened to being a team?" Kageko asked as Ethan disappeared back into the shadow. "Dammit," Kageko swore, "Lucina, you're in charge of our fallback. Stay here."

* * *

Ethan pulled himself back out of the shadow just as Catherine and Mina arrived, the growl of his shadow alerting him to their presence. He turned to face them, the shadows around him seeming to darken as he prepared to fight.

"Two of us on one of you!" Mina said, "This fight should be… Easy!"

"Maybe count again? Your math teacher must be crying." Ethan replied, sliding into a fighting position while his shadow mirrored his stance.

"That's just part of your quirk, it'll go away once we kick your ass." Catherine fired back.

"Good luck." Ethan retorted, "You're right about one thing though: this will be easy."

Ethan clenched his fist and raised his hands slowly, straining as though he was pulling something up with him. The shadows around him darkened even more, and began to slide towards him, winding around his legs and travelling up his body till they emerged from his back as two large black tendrils that seemed to draw in the light around them, darkening the arena ever so slightly.

**Ethan Easton - Shadowsilk**

**Ethan can shape and manipulate darkness to some degree! He can forge from the shadows weapons and constructs, dive into one to transport himself across large distances, and also see in the dark. His biggest weakness is bright, direct lights, which can dispel shadow.**

Ethan rushed towards Mina, his tendrils digging into the floor to help speed him up, propelling him forward in leaps and bounds. Mina stood her ground, waiting till the last second, before she dove forward, rolling under Ethan and coming up behind him. She kicked the back of his leg, trying to knock him down to his knees, but his tendrils kept him on his feet. She tried to punch him in the head, but by this time he had turned around and managed to block her strike, countering with a wild haymaker. She dodged backwards, putting distance between the two of them while she analysed Ethan, planning her next move.

Meanwhile, Ethan's shadow charged at Catherine, running on all fours like a wild animal. Catherine unslung her guitar, grasping it by the neck and resting it on her shoulder as the shadow drew closer, a small smirk on her face. She swung the guitar at the shadow as it pounced, catching it in the stomach and knocking it away from her. It hit the ground and slid back slightly, but quickly recovered, charging forward again with determined vigor. She prepared to strike again, but instead of pouncing, the shadow feinted and slipped around her swing, landing behind her. Thrown off-balance by her own attack, Catherine was forced to drop her guitar and duck inelegantly under the pounce, narrowly avoiding its attack. She scooped up her guitar and backpedalled, finding herself back to back with Mina as they watched their two opponents.

"Any luck?" Catherine asked.

"Not much," Mina answered, "How about we swap?" She offered, glancing over her shoulder at the other girl.

"Why not." Catherine answered. She rolled her shoulders and charged Ethan, while Mina made for the shadow.

Catherine danced to the side, dodging Ethan's first attack and swinging her guitar at one of Ethan's tendrils. It hacked through the tendril like an axe, severing the tip and unbalancing Ethan slightly. The tip dissolved into a shadowy dust that disappeared just as quickly, returning back to the shadows it had come from. Catherine smirked, resting her guitar on her shoulder.

"Still think this fight's gonna be easy?"

"Well, you're the one on your ass, so I'd say my chances are pretty high," replied Ethan with a vicious grin. Catherine opened her mouth to reply, but one of Ethans tendrils whipped out, knocking her legs out from underneath her. She crashed to the floor, landing heavily on her right side. She tried to crawl away, but the tendril twisted around her leg and threw her into a nearby wall.

"Catherine!" Mina cried out in alarm, rushing to her aid, only for the shadow to take a swipe at her. She jumped back to avoid it, but ended up further away from Catherine.

"I'm ok!" Catherine replied, wincing as she pulled herself to her feet.

"How cute," Ethan drawled, as he slowly approached Catherine, "You might be ok right now, but you won't be for much longer. Time is on our side, and I'm going to enjoy spending it kicking you two up and down the street."

"Oh would you just shut up?" Catherine retorted, "We'll see how much time you have after this!"

Catherine's eyes glowed for a moment, and as soon as Ethan made eye contact with her, his vision was clouded by a strange darkness, filling in the edges of his vision till all he could see was Catherine and her glowing eyes.

**Catherine Meikuriy - Evil Eye**

**While Catherine's quirk is active, anyone who makes eye contact with her will be subject to an illusion of their darkest, most selfish desires. However, the ability can only work on a small number of people at a time.**

"I'd say enjoy the trip, but I know you probably won't." Catherine commented, her voice growing more and more distant as the illusion took over Ethan.

* * *

Feeling a little guilty for treating Lucina the way he did (come to think of it, the whole plan had Lucina sidelined by both of them, Kageko thought) and deciding that she deserved a pat on the back and maybe tonight's dessert, he got himself to Ethan. It took all of two trips, but he got there.

Ethan was so still that Kageko had to do a double take. He stood staring blankly off into the distance, seemingly enamoured by something Kageko couldn't see, while he completely ignored the world around himself. Ethan's strange shadowy clone stood between Ethan and the two girls, guarding the boy, vulnerable in his hypnotised state.

Catherine and Mina, on the other hand, stood in their combative stances, watching the shadowy figure carefully. They looked unharmed but wary; they must have fought the figure once before, and it hadn't gone well for them.

Kageko made his decision, and teleported down to the street level, landing in a combative stance beside Ethan's shadow.

"Great timing, Kageko," Catherine called at him from across the street, "You just missed me beating Ethan, if only you'd been quick enough to help him."

"I still made it here quick enough to stop you two from getting any closer." Kageko replied. And he had a plan. He just hoped it would actually work.

He kicked Ethan so hard his foot hurt. The other boy toppled and rolled several feet away. Ignoring the warning growl from the shadow and waving it at its master (Kageko hoped it understood him; his plan was doomed if it decided that he was a threat instead), he teleported just inside Catherine's striking range, to her left. In the time it took her to turn, he'd backed away one, two, three paces, into a wall that looked just solid enough that his body covered the large crack spreading out in the middle. Hoping his acting skills were up to scratch, he put what he hoped was a shocked look on his face and made sure his breath caught in his throat, just loud enough for Catherine to hear.

Catherine grinned, and stepped forward, taking a swing at him. Kageko waited till the last second before teleporting behind Catherine, and delivered a solid kick straight into her back. Already off balance from her attack, Kageko's kick knocked her over and sent her tumbling into the wall, which collapsed on her. As solid as it looked, it was worn and battered (and judging from the lack of rebar and other strengthening material in the concrete, pretty rushed in its construction), and Catherine plowing into the crack headfirst was enough to destroy it. She appeared uninjured, but wasn't getting up soon.

"One down," He said, turning to face Mina, "One to go."

"You must be tired after all that. Let's have you stay here a little." Mina commented innocently, staring intently at Kageko.

"A hero never tires of justice," Kageko muttered to himself, repeating a mantra that his father had drilled into his head. He prepared to teleport to Mina, but before he could, the pupils in her eyes morphed, narrowing into snakelike slits.

"Trust me, you'll sleep like a rock," Mina said, as Kageko found himself suddenly losing sensation in his arms and legs, the sensation slowly spreading out across his body. He looked down in alarm and saw that his arms and legs had turned into a grey stone, with the rest of his body following suit. He opened his mouth to cry out in alarm, but before he could get anything out, his body completed its transformation, and he found himself completely encased in stone.

**Mina Ishihara - Petrifying Eyes**

**While her quirk is active, anyone who makes eye contact with Mina will be turned to stone, for as little as thirty seconds, to as long as a minute and a half. Unluckily for Mina, she isn't exempt from her quirks effects, so any reflective surfaces can petrify her too.**

"Two down, zero to go!" Mina exclaimed, moving over to dig Catherine out of the rubble, "Now we just need to get the bottle,"

"Easier said than done," Catherine groaned from underneath the rubble, "We still have to beat Lucina, if you've already forgotten."

"Oh we'll be fine," Mina dismissed, "There's two of us, and my eyes still work. We'll have the bottle before you can make that noise you did while Iwata was throwing you through a wall, Cath."

"Bring that up again, and I'll throw you through a wall," Catherine growled darkly, before setting off towards the building that was the enemy base.

Mina laughed, a laughter that surprisingly held no malice, only amusement. "That would be infighting. We'll have points taken off, and you'll be punished!" She giggled, following Catherine towards the base.

"Be quiet," Catherine insisted, "We're close to the enemy base, don't blow our cover."

Mina opened her mouth to reply, but was suddenly interrupted, as a long tendril of water suddenly struck her in the stomach, sending her stumbling back. She backpedalled and almost regained her balance, just before another jet of water splashed her straight in the face. Her hands went up, covering her stinging eyes.

"Too late," Lucina announced from inside the building, "I heard you guys fighting from a mile away, and you talk almost as loud as you fight."

"Then you should know we took them both out. And considering I was in fifteenth place, I'm starting to think the ranking system is unfair." Catherine replied, ignoring Lucina's comment, "Friendly advice for free, Lucina: surrender. Should spare you a world of hurt."

"Nice one." Lucina answered, "I think I can beat you, but really, I just have to delay you for long enough that you can't make it back to base with our bottle. Five minutes on the clock, so you'd better move quickly, if you want to have any chance of success."

* * *

Eventually, Kageko felt the sensation returning to his body, as the stone began to transform back into skin. He gasped as oxygen flooded back into his lungs, surprised that he hadn't suffocated in however long it took for it to wear off. He dismissed his concerns, filing them under concerns for later, and took his first unsteady strides, trying to get his muscles used to being used again.

He turned to look at Ethan, who was still yet to shake off whatever illusion he was under. Kageko wished Lucina was here; a splash of water would be more helpful than anything he could do, but wishful thinking wouldn't help him right now. He rolled Ethan over onto his back, grunting with effort.

He turned to face Ethans shadow. "I could use some help." He said with a scowl. The shadow remained silent, not even doing him the courtesy of growling.

"To hell with this." He muttered, then punched Ethan in the face.

The reaction was immediate, from both Ethan and his shadow. Ethan leapt to his feet, roaring in anger as he spun around, searching for a target. Ethan's shadow charged towards Kageko, growling in anger. Kageko quickly teleported away from the shadow.

"Ethan! Calm down!" He shouted, "They're gone, they beat us and disappeared!"

Ethan didn't calm down, in fact he got louder, his shadowy tendrils almost exploding out of his back and tearing things up. A striking resemblance to a toddler that had been denied his favorite toy and then given a picture book to tear up.

"Ethan!" Kageko shouted, "Stop!"

"Where is he?!" Ethan shouted, still destroying his surroundings in anger, clearly looking for somebody specific.

"Calm down. It was just some kind of trance. The girls left right after they beat us, I didn't see where to though."

"Well why didn't you stop them?!" Ethan replied, out of breath and his eyes still wildly searching around, "Scratch that, why are you here without that bottle?"

"I came here to help you!" Kageko replied, "It would all be pointless if I can't get across the halfway line with it."

"We don't have time to argue about this," Ethan said, dismissing the argument, "We need to go get their bottle."

'What? No, we need to go and shore up our defenses!" Kageko urged, "It's both of them against Lucina, we should help her."

"I'm not timing them out." Ethan snarled. "We're gonna go get their bottle, and if Lucina can't take care of them herself, she can quit and leave in disgrace. I'll send her off with fireworks, if not on one."

He took off at a sprint, moving towards the enemy base with his shadow following right behind, leaving Kageko behind.

"What happened to being a team?," Kageko muttered under his breath, as he raced off to follow Ethan.

* * *

Kusari stood in the centre of his team's base, circling slowly around the bottle and flittling his vision between the many access points. While Ethan and Kageko's teleporting would inevitably take him by surprise, he was doing what he could to prepare himself. His nerves were on edge, his muscles were tense, and his fists were clenched, but he was ready.

A flicker of movement caught his attention, and he instantly bought his hands up to defend himself, ducking down behind his fists as he turned to face the source of the movement. There was nothing there, not even a bird or a rat to explain the movement. He relaxed slightly, until realisation hit him.

"Gotcha!" He cried, spinning around as he extended his fist, catching Kageko in the jaw just as the other boy appeared behind him. His punch was solid, and sent Kageko backwards, clutching his jaw in pain.

"Nice try, Kageko," Kusari said, as he resumed his boxing stance, "But I'm smarter than that,"

"Figured it was worth a try," Kageko replied, massaging his jaw, "Gotta use my Quirk to my advantage."

His vision quickly flicked over Kusari's shoulder, and in an instant, Kusari realised his mistake. He turned around just in time to see Ethan leap out of his shadow, snagging the bottle on his way out.

"Gotcha!" Ethan announced, landing with a roll, "Smarter than that, are you? Maybe next time don't fall for the most obvious trick in the book!" He gloated, spreading his arms wide to show off his success.

"What are you doing!?" Kageko shouted, "Get out of here, secure the bottle!"

"Oh calm down," Ethan replied, "I just won us the match, let me showboat for a bit!"

He once again moved to leap into his shadow, but instead of passing through like a liquid, he simply stopped, landing on the ground like any regular person. His celebration quickly morphed into confusion, an expression mirrored by Kageko, who teleported to his side.

"Give me the bottle, let me try!" He said, swiping the bottle from Ethan's surprised hands. He tried to vanish from the interior of the building, but failed, re-appearing only ten feet from Kusari.

Kusari, on the other hand, broke out in a wide smile. He stretched, rolling his shoulders, then resumed his boxers stance. "Sorry, but that's my Quirk in action," He admitted, "You're in my Zone now, there's no getting out."

**Kusari Kennomi - The Zone**

**This quirk allows Kusari to generate a "Zone" around himself, an orb with a twenty foot diameter, that prevents anyone from leaving or entering, while also boosting Kusari's physical abilities. However, the Zone lasts for three minutes, no more or less, and traps Kusari too. In addition, once used, Kusari has a cooldown before he can create another Zone.**

Kageko and Ethan stood shoulder to shoulder facing Kusari, their usual animosity forgotten in the face of this new threat.

"Can your shadow help?" Kageko asked.

"I dismissed him," Ethan answered, "Thought I would need my shadow back for a quick dive."

"Can you bring it back?" Kageko urged.

"It would take too long." Ethan replied, "unless you can keep him off me for fifteen seconds, there's no way."

Kageko quickly eyed Kusari, who was yet to move, still standing with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Hold this" he said, handing the bottle back to Ethan, "I'll see what I can do."

Kageko quickly considered his options. He had already tried attacking from behind, that hadn't gone so well. The Zone removed any ability to hide and attack from stealth, so he couldn't play to his strengths. And since Kusari was a boxer, he was probably used to taking a punch, making hand to hand a poor choice. Luckily, Kageko didn't have to beat him, all he had to do was delay him.

He teleported in front of Kusari, swinging a wild roundhouse in the hope of catching his attention, but Kusari ducked under the blow with inhuman speed, countering with a light jab that sent Kageko stumbling backwards. Without giving him even a moment to recover, Kusari followed this up with a kick that threw him against the walls of the Zone. He then targeted Ethan, throwing a quick punch to break his concentration, before sweeping his legs out from underneath him.

Kageko picked himself up off the ground, wincing as he did so. The walls of the Zone were unpleasantly solid, and he was sure there would be more than a few bruises on him once this was over. On the other side of the Zone, Ethan stood up.

"Ethan!" Kakego called, "Ditch the shadow, help me with this!"

Ethan didn't reply, but the shadow tendrils emerging once again from his back were enough of a reply.

The duo charged Kusari, approaching from either side in an attempt to throw him off. Kageko threw a punch towards Kusari's head while Ethan swung a kick towards his legs, mimicking Kusari's attack on him. Instead of defending himself, Kusari ducked Kageko's punch and stepped sideways, dodging Ethans kick.

"Sorry guys," Kusari said, "But you can't match me physically in the Zone, might as well just surrender, else I'll have to keep attacking you."

"How about this?" Ethan said, as he grabbed the bottle from where he left it, right at the edge of the Zone. "Stop using your quirk, end the Zone, or I'll smash the bottle."

"You wouldn't," Kusari said, though his stance showed uncertainty. Kageko made a mental note of the effect Ethan had on people. "If you smash it, you lose."

"Try that on Blinky, he might actually care." Ethan replied, "I'm not here to win some silly training exercise, but I'm not losing to you either."

"Well, it's still bad news for you: I can't drop the Zone, it stays up for the full time no matter what," Kusari admitted, "The three of us are stuck here for three minutes, period."

"Then I'll just smash it anyway. Did you actually think I was bluffing?" Ethan said, as he raised the bottle. The liquid inside rolled over each other, and to Kageko's eyes it was just that little shake away from mixing and dooming them all. "I'm bored of dealing with you three, denying you any hope of victory is good payback."

"Ethan! Stop!" Kageko said, as he teleported to Ethans side, grabbing the taller boy's wrist, "We still have two minutes left, we can just wait out the Zone!"

"And spend the next two minutes getting kicked about by Little Mac over here?" Ethan said, glaring at Kusari.

"How about a compromise?" Kusari suggested, "You two stay over there, and I'll stay here till the Zone goes away, then you can run off with the bottle."

"How can we trust you?" Kageko asked suspiciously.

"You can't, but you have the bottle. I'd say you have all the bargaining power in this situation." Kusari answered.

"No we fucking don't." Growled Ethan. "The girls know how to fight. One more second stuck in this spit wad is one second closer to losing our bottle. Here's the deal, Kageko,"

He whirled on Kageko, and both him and Kusari took an involuntary step back. This Ethan was someone else...no, something else. The superficial anger and rage was gone, replaced by a cold fury. It was the aura of a person who stalked the streets, cleaning society one vermin at a time.

"Knowing our luck, Lucina is losing ground, and it won't be long until she loses the damn bottle. If we don't take him out, we have no guarantee of safety. Watch." He looked at Kusari, a gleam in his eyes. "Alright, let's say I don't want to keep you company in here." His shadow started to ripple, the ever familiar sign of him summoning his shadowy clone

"The hell are you doing?" Kusari said, raising his fists as he approached Ethan, "I already told you, there's no way out."

This time, Ethan didn't stop, instead looking at Kageko. "You believe me now?"

The shadow stopped rippling as Ethan stepped back to avoid the powerful roundhouse Kusari swung at him. His head bumped against the Zone, the impact making it bounced back, right into Kusari's incoming punch.

As his head was slammed against the wall, Ethan felt the force field of the Zone crack from the impact. Before he could process it, the Zone dropped. The effect on Kusari was immediate, his almost beautiful boxer's stance fell apart, and he started breathing heavily. Ethan frowned, but kept an eye on him even as the shadows all around started moving again.

The first thing Kageko did was run to the open window and check. "They're coming back! You were right, Ethan, they have our bottle! Come on, the roof!"

That was Ethan's cue. He sank into the shadows even as one of the girls kicked the flimsy doors to the warehouse open. Kusari leaned back against the wall, panting slightly. The girls flung the door open and heavily put the little green bottle down on the table.

"Hey girls, good to see you," He said breathlessly, sinking to the ground as he spoke, "I did it, I delayed them for three minutes,"

A buzzer rang, and Miss Delson's voice announced the result.

"The medicine has been secured, and the match is over!" her voice crackled to life over the megaphones around the arena. "Team Catherine, Mina and Kusari win!"

* * *

As the two teams walked off the camera and several robots came in for...some purpose, the rest of the class began to talk amongst themselves as they filed out of the viewing room, following their teachers out to meet up with the teams. Asano found himself walking beside someone he only knew from roll call, Raul Rivera, the student with blue and black hair that brought out his vibrant purple eyes. He turned to face Asano and started talking away.

"Man, that fight was intense," Raul said, a cheery smile on his face, "I've never seen someone use a guitar as a weapon before. And the way Kusari was taking on both Ethan and Kageko, without taking a scratch! You don't expect that from someone ranked twelfth against the number 1 student and the angry powerhouse."

"Yes, that is quite the upset. Guess the simple test isn't everything." Asano replied a little louder than was necessary, thinking about the margin.

The chatter quieted as they met the teams on the field. Ethan had his arms crossed, refusing to look at the other team, while Lucina gave the other team a polite handshake, a wide smile on her face, though Asano thought he saw her lips almost lose it. Kageko gave her a pat on the back after she came back, whispering something in her ear that made her perk up for real. Then she noticed the entire class watching, and her face turned a brilliant shade of bright red.

"Now for a vote." Mr Young addressed the students. "Do we evaluate now, or do a general evaluation after all the matches?"

He was almost immediately drowned out by students shouting their suggestions, loudly voting for each option. Miss Delson called for silence, and moments later, they tallied up the votes, which fell in favour if evaluating immediately after the match.

"Alright, please remain silent till I ask you to speak." Mr Young said, as he prepared to interrogate the students.

Unfortunately for Asano, Raul didn't seem to understand the instruction, as he constantly talked to Asano throughout the evaluation, drowning out most of the evaluation. That Miss Delson talked more to the teams than the other students didn't help, but he caught bits and pieces, from Kageko defending Lucina's efforts in their defence, to points lost for tactical errors on Kageko's plan. 'You say you didn't know Kennomi's Quirk, and yet you planned the attack as you did. There's nothing wrong with taking risks, but could you say 'I didn't know what the enemy had up their sleeve so I failed' if you were attempting to retrieve an item of such importance against a real enemy?'

By the time the two teachers were finished, almost all the other students were feeling sorry for the teams, as their plans and actions were torn apart with a critical eye. Having become more practiced at zoning out Raul's chatter, Asano glanced around, noticing Damien calmly observing the evaluation with his arms folded across his chest, and when he turned to look at the other side, there was Shiki with her notebook and mechanical pencil scribbling away. Asano made a mental note to ask for a look inside that notebook someday, but he switched his focus back to the teachers, in time to hear their new announcement.

"The contestants from the first match will be joining us in the viewing room for the remainder of the matches. In the meantime, the two teams we call out next should group together and head to the entrances for preparations. Ten minutes after that, the second match will commence. For the first match Red was protecting the medicine, but keep in mind that this may not be the case." Miss Delson said, "Now, the next two teams, Mr Young?"

Mr Young cleared his throat, and read the teams off the clipboard. "Team Red will be: Asano Torio, Shiki Tendou, and Yuwaka Arai. Team blue will be: Varik Larkson, Jun Hamada, and Damien Rodriguez."

* * *

**Wow, this chapter took forever to finish. My apologies to everyone reading for the delay, I really wasn't in the right frame of mind when writing this, but hopefully that hasn't affected the quality of writing.**

**Regardless, thank you for reading, and extra thanks for everyone who reviews.**


	9. The Second Match

**The Second Match**

* * *

"Are you sure that'll work?" Shiki said, interrupting Asano as he explained his plan. "If you do, then I'll need at least some explanation of how because I don't think it will."

"Why not?" Asano asked, "They'll probably go in a group of two, same as the last teams, if all three of us intercept them, we'll probably win, then we can take the bottle…"

"And leave our base wide open? We don't know what our objective is, and 'charge in and let things sort themselves out' isn't a plan.

"Speaking of the last match, I'm surprised nobody has noticed the team comps. Iwata and Easton's Quirks are both suited for quick, untraceable movement, so the best approach for them would have been to lure defenders away while the other takes the objective. The other team specializes in immobilization, so their best option would be to have Mina at the front, Catherine in the middle and Kennomi on defence. They almost did that, and the difference is obvious."

"And just how can _you_ be so sure?" Yuwaka interrupted, "We didn't know all that much about any of their Quirks until halfway through the fight, and we still don't know if they have any other components to them. We can't make predictions if we don't know all the details."

Shiki pressed two fingers to her temple, massaging them slightly as if to relieve stress. "You forget our Quirks are all known to the teachers. Without randomization, they must have picked the teams with consideration. Easton, Iwata and Eventide all showed off their Quirks. The other team didn't. However, that is not a valid theme for a team, and if you remember, Mina mentioned her Quirk not being suited for extensive physical activity. Catherine came third in the second sprint, but the margin between her and Rodriguez was by such a margin it only confirms that her Quirk did not assist her physical performance. Thus the possibilities are that either their Quirks do not last, take a long time between uses, or are not suited for extensive combat, which means they're either burst types or are specialized for something else, the latter being more likely because a sprint is a good place to use a burst type, as well as several of the other tests. I'll admit I could only reach a definitive conclusion when Iwata returned to normal within a minute, but the information before that should already suggest avoiding frontal assault, at the very least."

"Larkson did not have a stellar performance in the physicals, but Rodriguez had his moment. And Hamada showed his quirk during the robot sparring; something to do with seismic waves if I'm not mistaken. That means their team is about gimmicks. Given my Quirk and Asano's, our team is the same, which means there must be an element that differentiates the teams significantly."

"Maybe they just picked two similar teams, to try and establish who is actually better? Or so we're trained against people similar to us?" Asano suggested, "Two physical, one other kind of quirk, it could be a test of where we assign ourselves."

"My Quirk, as I've told you, isn't specialized for physical activity. At least not in the sense you're thinking."

"What if me and Shiki went on attack," Yuwaka suggested, "Asano, your quirk is pretty powerful, they'd probably send the physical quirks out on offence, you'd be in the best position to counter them."

"Sounds good to me," Asano agreed almost reflexively, not noticing that he wasn't thinking of any ramifications. "I can keep the bottle locked down, you two go steal theirs, easy!"

Shiki watched as Yuwaka's expression soured slightly, then at Asano's almost admiring expression, and leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes. After a minute, she opened them again and flipped open her notebook, writing something down and scratching out something else.

She'd just slipped her pencil back into its holder when the announcement blared that the match was starting. The team stepped out into the arena, heading towards the building where their objective was.

* * *

"I still think you're a hero, Varik. Did you even see what you did? I mean, you stepped up to that Ethan in front of God and everybody." Damien said as he got to work inspecting the room where their team's objective was placed. They had gotten the medicine, the green liquid tinting the room with its eerie glow.

"The only other person who did that was Asano, and he only did it because he could actually beat Ethan at the ball throw." Jun added, as he lifted a spare chair and carried it towards the door, intending to barricade himself in. "You did it because you were brave, and that's what heroism is really about, right?"

"Oi, leave the way that you found in the back open, Jun. If I get stopped, Varik will come back to help you. He ain't getting through that, not without leaving it open to the enemy. Best to keep a secret passage, you know? Every castle needs one."

"Castle?" Varik snickered "I guess they don't have many castles in America, Damien, but generally speaking, they look...a little older than this." He gestured at the artificially abandoned shack that currently served as their 'base'.

"You know what I mean, Varik." Damien said, "It's a metaphor, or a simile, whichever one it is."

"Wow, architecture, history, and grammar, any subjects you're not going to fail?" Varik quipped, a sly smile on his face.

"Is kicking your ass a subject?" Damien replied with an equally sly smile.

"Time for you two to get moving," Jun called out, interrupting their friendly banter, "Unless we've decided to play defensive now? I'm okay with that 'cause it makes my job easier, but it's a risky move. If they manage to grab the bottle, we'll have to chase after them, and get it back before they get to their base."

"Hey, all three of us are on defense in that case. Why are you assuming they'll even get the bottle? We have the medicine; that means they have to come to us, not the other way round."

"They still have the number five and number six student on their team remember, look at how well Kageko did in the last match."

"He got trapped more than anything. Anyway...who do you think will be on offense?"

"Probably Asano and Shiki, they're the highest ranks on their team, and they don't have the option of playing defensive like we do."

"I hate having to think about this...we don't know what Yuwaka can do, we don't know what Shiki can do, all we know is Asano is strong and that Shiki is impossible to sneak up on. Alright, Varik, let's stick to the plan, and do what we can."

"Hey, it rhymed."

"Oh come on."

* * *

"Say, Shiki, you said you could draw a definitive conclusion when Kageko returned to normal quickly. What conclusion was that?"

"That all three of their team have Quirks with time limits or special properties. It's obvious Ken...Kusari's Quirk also traps himself, otherwise, even with Eas...Ethan's ability to leave, he would be hindered at the handover, because Kageko can't leave, and Lucina was overpowered by Mina and Catherine."

"What about this time? When will the definitive conclusion come?" Yuwaka asked, in a curious tone to her voice.

"When we meet the attackers." Shiki explained. She went from a jog to standing still suddenly, surprising Yuwaka, who almost tripped as she halted her run. "Speak of the devil, and look, there they are." Shiki muttered to Yuwaka, a small smile on her face. Yuwaka blinked, surprised by her teammate's sudden revelation.

She faced towards a nearby building and raised her voice. "You're not hiding yourselves very well, boys. Please come out already, your ambush has failed."

"Aw dang," Varik complained from inside the building, "You're kidding, right? How did you even see us?"

The two boys emerged from the building, taking up positions across the street from Shiki and Yuwaka. Damien folded his arms and scowled at the two girls, while Varik placed his hand nervously on the small box hooked onto his belt, subtly adjusting a dial on the top.

Shiki kicked out, aiming for a small collection of loose rocks on the ground. She moved so quickly Yuwaka would have missed it if she blinked. The stray pebbles flew true, right at the boys' heads. Damien reacted immediately, ducking down and rolling into what was obviously a planned position in front of Varik, who yelped and ducked down, clutching his hands over his head and just barely avoiding the stony projectile.

"And the definitive conclusion is…?" Yuwaka quirked an eyebrow, not understanding Shiki's almost trivial act of aggression.

"Varik here is a support, and his voice is the key, but that should be obvious already. Likely strengthening others, going by how he isn't reacting to Damien standing between us and him." She replied. "I was actually not sure about that one until Damien got in front of him. Sound makes no distinction between who can hear it, so unless Varik's voice is so small and weak as to warrant the use of that thing," she gestured to the distinctive, almost out of place microphone around Varik's neck, "it must be a targeted Quirk that only affects those the user decides to use it on."

Yuwaka was about to say something when Damien changed, the shadows drawing into him and transforming into inky black fur that quickly covered his whole body, while his arms and legs turned into what looked like a wolf's paws complete with wicked-looking claws, and his face lengthened into a snout. Yuwaka couldn't help but notice the shiny black nose twitching on its end; it would've almost been cute, if it wasn't for the two rows of sharp teeth and burning golden eyes.

**Damien Rodriguez - Black Dog**

**Black Dog lets Damien draw in nearby shadows to take the form of a large black wolf, increasing his strength, speed and sensory abilities, without impacting his intelligence. The form grows stronger the more shadows are nearby.**

"I was wondering when you would transform. Nice fur, by the way." Shiki said to him. Damien made a facial expression that might've been a grin, but Yuwaka only saw his massive, blood-red maw, and the two rows of white teeth as shiny as they looked dangerous.

Varik cleared his throat, and began to sing. Neither of the girls recognised the song, but it was definitely upbeat, a catchy tune that made you want to dance to it.

**Varik Larkson - Backup Singer**

**When Varik sings, up to three people of his choice listening to the song gain a boost to their Quirks, ranging from strength, duration, speed, or other properties. However, it lasts only as long as he can sing, which is an unfortunately harsh limit.**

Damien lunged toward them instead. He moved much faster and more forcefully than he did in the sprint; one moment he was standing in front of the two girls, the next he was a great black shadow, flying through the air towards them with his claws outstretched, aiming for Shiki's head. It was a vicious blow, and Yuwaka wasn't sure if she was relieved or not that she wasn't his target.

He wasn't fast enough. Shiki ducked under the swipe, grabbed his wrist and arm with her hands, and slammed him into the ground. He hit the concrete pavement with a thud and a moment later, his face contorted in pain and his lips drew back in a snarl, curling into himself.

Varik blinked. The plan had not accounted for Damien going down so quickly. When Shiki turned to look at him, he didn't think. He turned and ran like hell.

"Varik, wait!" Damien called out after him as he pushed himself back to his feet, groaning as he did so, but Varik just kept running, seemingly ignoring his partner's calls. The predetermined path that led to the back door was as short as it got; it was specifically chosen to be short enough that he could reach Jun in time and long enough that he could lose any tail before they found out about the easy entrance.

Now, the same route that he'd walked twice felt impossibly long. When he finally reached the doors, he breathed a sigh of relief...and then he felt the impact on the back of his neck.

And even as the ground rushed to meet him, everything turned black.

* * *

Shiki caught Varik before he could break his nose on the ground, and shifted him into the recovery position and placed him away from the door. Yuwaka emerged from around the corner, panting slightly more than she wanted to admit. Shiki motioned for her to keep her voice down.

"How did you do that? How did you know?" Her whisper was genuinely curious. There should be limits to pure logic, and the girl currently looking through the window at the stairs had defied them again and again.

"Training and practice, for the first one."

"That's definitely a lie, no way training and practice gets you that fast."

"I did say my Quirk enhances all my physical abilities a moderate amount. As for the second question, you saw how Varik is comparatively lacking in physical ability. Since he's a support, they would want to let him return to help the defender in case the ambush failed. That means a quick way back to their base. And from what I see, the other entrances are barricaded, and there's no way to break this glass without making noise the defender can hear upstairs. See?" She carefully traced her finger over a window that, for all purposes, looked intact and solid, and a spiderweb of subtle cracks appeared where she touched. "It's recently been cracked and fractured by vibrations. Any attempt to get through or remove it will surely alert whoever's in there."

"And what does that matter?"

"That means this is an entrance that does not have alarms, traps or barricades we need to get through. Designed for Varik's return." She pushed the door open, deliberately making the door scrape against the warehouse floor.

"Is that you, Varik?" Came Jun's voice from above. Shiki shook her head at Yuwaka, slammed the door shut, and audibly jammed it in with a nearby chair.

"Okay, I hear you. Come on up, it's kinda boring. Is Damien with you? Or did you guys get separated?" Shiki tensed, and the next thing Yuwaka knew, she'd dismantled the barricade on the front door with surprising ease. She moved to go up the stairs, but Yuwaka stopped her.

"Stay here, and get ready to run," She whispered, "I'll handle this."

"Jump out the window if things go wrong. I'll catch you." Shiki said, as Yuwaka turned away.

"Damien? Varik? This is starting to be not funny, guys." Jun called, still remaining upstairs with his eyes on the bottle. Yuwaka took a deep breath, and walked upstairs to confront Jun.

"So it was you?" He frowned when he saw the girl come up the stairs. "Then why did you lock yourselves in?"

"Maybe I just wanted to spend some time with you…Jun," Yuwaka said, fluttering her eyelashes at the boy.

Immediately, Jun's face flared up in a deep red blush, his defensive stance wavering as he stared in a mixture of confusion and surprise.

"W-w-what d-do you m-me-mean by t-that?" He stuttered

**Yuwaka Aria - Charm**

**Yuwaka's Quirk allows her to charm anyone who's attracted to her, manipulating them into doing her will. Her quirk gets more effective the more her target is attracted to her, and so, she often puts on an act to make the most of it.**

Yuwaka walked closer to Jun, who began to back up cautiously. He knew something was wrong, but at the same time, he was hanging on to her every word.

"Now, if you just let me take that bottle, I could be back in a moment, and we could keep talking. Wouldn't that be fun?"

"Uh," Jun hesitated, the two halves of him wrestling for control about whether or not to listen. But eventually, one side won out.

"Yeah, sure, go ahead," He said, moving away from the bottle, seemingly in a stupor.

"Thank you so much, Jun," Yuwaka said, a rare smile on her face. She grabbed the bottle, and turned to face the boy. "For what it's worth, I am really, really sorry about this," She said, then took off, sprinting down the stairs.

Jun stood stunned, staring at the stairwell that Yuwaka had just disappeared into for a good three seconds before he registered the purpose for her apology and realization hit him like a truck.

"Oh god dammit," He cursed, as he came back to his senses. As was the plan, he slammed his hands down on the floor, sending massive tremors through the entire building and collapsing the already-weakened exits. The idea was that this would trap the enemy inside.

He could only hope it worked as the whole building shook. His shockwaves kept the debris off him, but it also weakened the floor he was standing on.

* * *

Varik regained consciousness just in time to witness Yuwaka and Shiki sprint out of his team's base, clutching the medicine he was supposed to defend, and to watch the building crumble to pieces in front of him. Luckily, he was just out of range of the rubble, but unfortunately, he felt sick, too sick to chase after his opponents. He tried to climb to his feet, but his efforts just made the feeling that much worse, so he decided to stop when he managed to prop himself against a wall, trying to ignore the sensation of his insides turning over.

Eventually, Jun began to claw his way out from the rubble, lifting the fallen sections of roof and wall off of himself until he finally reached the open air. He looked around quickly, his eyes landing on Varik.

"A little help here?" Jun joked, throwing the last piece of rubble away and climbing out the hole he had made for himself.

Varik sighed, then climbed to his feet, still feeling woozy, and stumbled over to Jun.

"Sorry I let them get past me," Varik said, hanging his head glumly.

"Not your fault, I just hope you didn't go down the way I did." Jun brushed off,

"What, getting a building dropped on my head?"

"No...literally sweet-talked into giving up the bottle by Yuwaka, I mean. Did she convince you to knock yourself out or something?"

"I dunno what happened, I got to the door, and the next thing I know I'm lying on the floor."

"Do you think it was part of her Quirk?"

"Who, Shiki? It's gotta be, I think I felt it her knock me out. But enough about them, shouldn't we be going after our bottle?"

"It's pretty pointless, don't you think? Neither of us are known for our speed, and who knows where Damien is. There's no real way for us to catch up." Jun replied sourly,

"Well, we still have to try!" Varik tried to sound upbeat, but he knew they were done. He sat down against a nearby intact wall, leaning against it and closing his eyes, letting out a quiet sigh. Jun remained standing, but still leaned against the wall, waiting for the loudspeaker to signal their defeat.

Before the alarm went off, Damien stumbled back to the base, a sour look on his face to match the ones on Varik's and Jun's.

"You look like hell," Jun commented, "What happened? You get hit by a truck lately?"

"Something Shiki did to me," Damien replied, "It felt like my insides were melting, and it didn't get any better till I saw them run past with the bottle,"

"At least they didn't seduce the bottle right out of your hands," Jun sighed, "It's like we got set up to fail."

"You really think the teachers would do that?" Varik asked, "Put us in a scenario we couldn't win?"

Damien opened his mouth to reply, but the loudspeaker announcing the other team's win cut him off. He walked away without answering, leaving the question hanging over the team as they followed him out of the arena.

"Well, it's been eye-opening as the teachers promised us, at least." Muttered Varik. Two chuckles and a clap on the back answered him, and he thought that perhaps it hadn't been all bad after all.

* * *

Armarhino crept towards the abandoned brewery, taking extra care to make sure all of his massive frame was hidden in the dark shadows cast by the nearby buildings. He wasn't used to sneaking up on criminals, but he wanted to get in close before they were alerted to his presence. While he was bulletproof, getting shot was still painful enough that he prefered to avoid it unless necessary.

It wasn't as if this was entirely his fault. He'd tried to get in contact with Wisp, the infiltration specialist of their group, only for her sister, apparently on her day off, to pick up the phone and inform him that she was out, and would have to join him after some time. He had decided that he couldn't afford to wait that long, resulting in the risky position he found himself in.

Two guards were positioned outside, barely-concealed submachine guns under their folded arms. Armarhino knew he couldn't get any closer while remaining undetected, and the guns were modified to be powerful but loud; he had no fear of their bullets, but it would be loud enough to alert anyone inside. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place, either assault the place now, or wait, either for backup or till he saw an opportunity.

"To hell with this," Armarhino muttered as he ducked back into the shadows, stretching his legs as he limbered up. "I'll leave the sneaking around to Wisp,"

Armarhino took off, sprinting towards the entrance door, his thundering footfalls shaking the ground underneath him as he approached. By the time the two guards noticed him, he was already halfway across the parking lot, barrelling towards them at full speed. The guards were sent flying through the wall, not unlike bowling pins that had met a particularly fast, heavy ball. Armarhino didn't stop, continuing through the wall in a shower of rubble, carrying the two guards with him all the way through another sturdy wall and into the security office. He slid to a stop, allowing the two guards to roll away from him, then surveyed the room, scanning for any danger.

There was nothing but a single female at the security console, with a pile of bodies next to her, hands blurs of shadow flying over the keyboards and knobs and dials. She didn't look back as she commented, "That was loud. I don't suppose you know the value of subtlety? And before you ask, my other business was taken care of when my sister called. I was close so I headed over immediately. You're welcome."

"A little forward warning would have been nice, Wisp." Armarhino replied bluntly, "I almost got my hopes up for a challenge,"

"I doubt it, my baby sister hits harder than them. Literally. Anyway, here's the rundown. Apart from these here, three sleeping on the next floor, and one in the armory. Impressive stock they've got there, by the way. If you're a gun enthusiast, you should take the chance and help yourself a little. Oh, right. There's also seven pounds of plastic explosive strapped to three cars and a fourth with bull bars and double-reinforced doors and frames. Suicide and assault vehicles as far as I can tell, but you might want the professionals to handle that much."

"You work fast," Armarhino commented, "What were they doing here?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Wisp replied, "Unfortunately, no-one wrote down the password, and I didn't bring any tools to properly hack this, so I'm gonna have to improvise. The idiots very helpfully installed a camera right here in this room, which I suspect means their bosses weren't the most trusting people, and that's helped me a lot."

"How long is that going to take?"

"It would take less time if this stupid thing didn't keep rewriting itself to counter me. I admit I find this more stimulating, if also more annoying."

"Seems like you've got this under control, I'll go deal with the explosives," Armarhino said, as he turned away from Wisp.

"What?!" Wisp asked loudly. "You know I recommended calling in professionals for a reason, right?"

"Easier for me to deal with it than the EOD," Armarhino replied, as he continued to walk out of the building. "Besides, I've had a building dropped on me, what can seven pounds of explosives do?" He called back over his shoulder as he made his way to the exit.

Wisp kept typing away at the console until she finally gained access, the system welcoming her in with a beep of confirmation. She scanned through the shipping files, searching for names, addresses, anything that could tell her what had been happening at this facility. Suddenly, she tensed up. When a burst of comms chatter came from the pile of guards, she cursed.

"Damn," She cursed, as she finished browsing the console, "Nothing." She knelt down and rummaged around the core of the console, ripping out the hard drive and racing out the door with it. She ran to meet up with Armarhino. "We need to leave. Now." She insisted.

"What? Why?" The taller hero protested, "You can't have figured everything out that fast, so what's happening?"

"I double-checked the alarm systems, and there were two, one that I turned against itself, and another one in a booby-trapped subroutine I didn't catch in time. So now, whoever's really in charge of this place has backup on the way, probably coming through the secret entrance that's underground. Truly, no good deed goes unpunished. The one time I don't use the villains' weapons and explosives against them is the one time they have an easy access point I could completely seal off with the things."

"Let them come, surely we can handle a couple of thugs," Armarhino replied, stretching his arms.

"First off: they sent a small army because they were calling all the guards to prepare to identify themselves. Second: no point, there's nothing we need here. This was another dead end, which shouldn't be surprising considering how obvious it was. Whoever's really behind this doesn't care about this facility, it's a disposable outpost. What we really need to do is investigate further, find out what they were producing, where they were shipping it to, and why. And of course, find the new production center for the stuff."

She began to jog off out of the facility, Armarhino sprinting behind her to keep up, until they were far enough away from the abandoned brewery, or rather, Wisp decided it was far enough.

"So where do we start?" Armarhino asked between heavy breaths.

"At the bottom. This place had shipping records, but it's just short of being jack because the most valuable information we can glean from this is logistics, and the fact that the boss or bosses have enough trust issues to put a camera in the security office. They're using trucks, at least for shipments in and out of here. Considering this place has no easy access to a dock or landing, this narrows it down as much as you'd expect. Technosis, however, should be able to tell us the trucks that were involved, assuming that the records aren't also staged."

"So, long nights looking for specific trucks?" Armarhino sighed, "I'm not looking forward to this,"

"You won't be looking for the trucks, they'd spot you a mile away." Wisp replied, a small smile on her face, "I'm on that, you need to get past your stage fright and make it look like we've finally become frustrated with the fifth dead end. Which I think we actually are, so that, at least, should be easy."

"I was handling stealth perfectly fine for most of the night." Armarhino protested.

"Yes, because smashing through a brick wall is stealthy. I wouldn't have noticed you if I hadn't known you were coming." Wisp commented.

"I'm not the one who set off the alarm." Armarhino replied with a smile, "I thought I was working with an infiltration expert, Miss Tendou."

"Oh, but of course," Wisp's face lit up after the jab, and Amarhino recognized the light in her eyes. It was the one she had when she caught someone by a loose thread in a meeting, and was about to demolish them verbally. "Shall we arrange it so that next time, you're in charge of the stealth?"

"Alright, calm down," Armarhino said, raising his hands in mock surrender. "I'll do the PR, you have fun ogling big hunks of rusty metal that can't even transform into something cool, contact me if you find anything. And the next meeting is next week. Deal?"

"Deal," Wisp confirmed, shaking the other hero's hand, before turning away and disappearing into the night.

* * *

**...Well this took a while.**

**All I can really say is I'm sorry this chapter took so long. You'd think being locked inside your house would be condusive to getting more writing done, but apparently not. Hopefully, for those still reading this, the next chapter will be done soon.**

**Thanks again for reading, and an extra thanks to those who leave a review.**


	10. An Unexpexted Problem

**An Unexpected Problem**

* * *

Very few people were allowed off the compound. Even among the teachers and staff, only Lauren was allowed to walk off the compound without specific approval. Even with this special permission, she hardly ever left, dedicating most of her time to ensure that the program ran smoothly, and without detection. But tonight was an exception.

She knew where he would be, the park a block away from their old house, long since abandoned and overgrown with weeds. It had been their meeting place since they were kids, one where they could get some time away from the adults, and later, real life. Times had changed drastically, but they still had fond memories of the place.

She sat down on a rusted bench at the edge of the playground area of the park, and leaned back, closing her eyes to wait.

"You beat me here." a voice. One that she'd heard countless times before.

"I didn't have to dodge the cops," Lauren replied, as she opened her eyes and turned her head towards her brother.

"It has been a while, Lauren." Arthur greeted as he joined her on the bench, "Life treating you well?"

"Far better than yours, no doubt," Lauren replies, "Apart from having my company stolen out from underneath me, life's gone quite smoothly. But we aren't here to talk about life, did we."

"No…" Arthur sighed, pausing for a while before he resumed talking. "I've had an opportunity presented to me,"

"I assume that's why you're suddenly out of prison?" Lauren asked, though her expression showed that she knew the answer already.

"Yes, Darkangel got me out of prison. He's offering to help me create some change, to take a shot at the root of the problem. You know, the system that made booting you from the company YOU created from nothing not only legal, but actually preferable. Don't tell me that sounds like a good, or even functional system to you."

"I never said it was, but we can't change it from the outside, it just won't work. I have made a chance for things to change. Sure, it's only small, but small things grow."

"I thought so. WE thought so. Look at us now. I'm an escaped convict when all I've tried to do is help others, and you've a massive stain on your reputation for being a failed businessperson because your 'friends' wanted fatter checks. I really should remind you: your quirk alone props up most of the company.

"You know, Darkangel didn't brainwash me or anything. He just spoke sense. Think of the history of the world, Lauren. For as long as we've existed, there has never been a system of society that didn't end in corruption and collapse. However long one lasts, it decays from within until it becomes a twisted shadow of what it was meant to be. Then the victims of the old system rise up or an enemy appears, overthrow it, and put in a new system. This cycle goes on.

Think of communism. It was meant to be a system where everyone shared what they had with everyone else, and everyone worked hard to ensure there would be enough to go around; that was what it was meant to be. It failed quickly because when people get lazy when they get things for free, and the working ones don't want to put in an effort anymore. And those who get more than the others inevitably want even more. That's the twisted shadow.

What we're experiencing now are the symptoms of the decay in our system. It's time to do some surgery, don't you think?"

"And you think Darkangel will make a system that is better than the current one? That's a naive hope. You can't expect to conjure up the perfect philosophy, what we need, is to make improvements to the one we have."

"As I've said, there's literally no way to create a perfect system. Any idea of utopia is inherently incompatible with free will. And we aren't creating a new system. We're simply cutting out the decay. If you would disagree, tell me: how do you propose to make your improvements?"

"We need to change how they view us, and how we view them. If no-one saw vigilante's as criminals, no punishment would be given. If people saw what was going on behind the veil, they would deliver justice to those exploiting it. If you go after them in fire and blood, you will be a villain, and nothing will be gained."

"That's a lot of massive 'ifs', Lauren. The people who profit from this veil will protect it with all they have. And they have a lot. And there will always be people who are victims but still prefer 'the way things are now' because they fear the unknown. We have proper channels, but even those are part of the system. The system being controlled and exploited by the very people we're talking about delivering justice to right now."

"They have power, only as long as they are given it. The moment things change, they lose their power. But if you try to take the power by force, you will only drive people to stand under their banner. Justice is delivered by the people, the government represents the people.

"Again, that's what they're supposed to be. There are those who would truly champion the people and their ideals, but there are many, many more who champion their finances, and the ones financing them. And we aren't trying to take any power. We're just taking the individuals. Darkangel admitted the extremity of this, but death has always been the most powerful deterrent to those who value physical riches. I don't see him suddenly gaining a desire for power, but it's either letting this legal exploitation and oppression go on, or take a bet on Darkangel's morality."

"Enough," Lauren said, standing up forcefully, "You cannot convince me what you think is right, and I doubt I can convince you. I won't keep you here, I have no doubt the police are searching for you. Goodbye brother, I regret that we must find ourselves on opposite sides in this battle." She shoved her hands deep in her pockets to hide her shaking hands, and ducked her head so he couldn't see the tears growing in her eyes.

Arthur smiled. It was a sad one. Lauren risked a glance, and she knew that he was feeling as much pain as she was. "It seems we are at an impasse, and Darkangel was right again. He thought I wouldn't convince you without solid results to back it up. You've always been the more sensible of the two of us...so honestly ask yourself this. If you truly were convinced of the righteousness of established justice, would I really have gotten to you the way I know I have? Is there a niggling doubt in your heart of hearts that you're on ground as firm as you've convinced yourself, which doesn't go away no matter how many times you try to slap it down with the weak excuses you made for the institutions?"

He let out a long sigh. "You have no idea how much I hate myself right now for doing this to you. If you need any confirmation, try taking your company back through the proper channels. You've vigorously defended the system; at the very least you deserve some real justice from it. If that fails… then please reconsider my words."

He slid over a thick binder and several files full of papers. Finally, he took out a thin envelope and a rectangular box. "The files contain evidence of all the crimes of the board members that ousted you. I've taken a glance myself, and it absolutely sickens me. They also contain evidence of the conspiracy to frame you and smear your name: they hired underworld accountants to smudge the books and alter the accounts associated with you to hide the money they've been embezzling, with clockwork regularity I might add, and they were sending massive orders to illegal factories and sweatshops around the city you were in. Your personal information, your travel route and your designated hotels were sent to radical workers' rights groups there. They even had people in the hotels you were staying in. As for me, they were working very hard to prove I was a vigilante. They hired thugs and fake victims and called some freelance reporters. Those photos became critical evidence against me in my court case. In turn, my 'crimes' became the key piece they needed to finally vote you out. Sister of a brutal, violent criminal, right?"

"How did you find this?" Lauren asked as she scanned the folder she had been given under the light. It was extensive, almost scarily detailed, and as far as she could tell, it was all genuine.

"Darkangel recently expanded his influence there. He toppled a local kingpin and took over his operations. And when he dug into the kingpin's old dealings, and put the records together with info he's collected locally, and he discovered this plot against us."

"Why would he be expanding into that area? There's no money to be made,"

"There's always profit to be made in the grey areas in the less-developed parts of the world. What Darkangel does is do it properly and not take advantage of the workers. He's done a complete renovation of the factory buildings; improved hygiene, fire safety, plumbing and air-con plus filtering, the works. He's made sure all the workers have proper safety gear, and pays them more than enough to live on. He's also moved their families into new dormitories that he built, again with all the material safeties and comfort, and then there's medicine and professional care for the sick family members, which is a major reason why most of them are poor enough to be forced to work there. I've seen CCTV footage of the factories and dorm hallways, and it's actually better than how the poorest live here, in this country. You didn't think he convinced me with just the words out of his mouth, did you?"

Lauren sighed heavily, "If I didn't know you better, I'd call this an elaborate lie. All this information, right here? It just seems too good to be true. But I trust you."

Arthur smiled. "I did say he was genuine and truthful. This envelope contains five thousand dollars in cash. It's meant to tide you over for now. The box, on the other hand, contains twenty uncut diamonds, all of them colorless. Darkangel tells you to consider it a gift, or if you can't accept it, an interest-free loan he doesn't expect to get back."

"Twenty uncut diamonds is a gift? He sure knows how to spoil a girl." Lauren joked, a small smile slipping through her stern exterior. She took the box gingerly, and folded her arms over it. "I shouldn't keep you any longer, we both have things to get back to

Arthur returned the smile. "I don't expect that to have won you over, but please do look at his actions and mine, as well as the consequences, before you come to any conclusions." With that, he stood up and left.

* * *

It had been about two weeks since the program had begun, and as much as Asano hated to admit it, he was beginning to like it there.

The rest of the matches were surprisingly uneventful, mostly one poor sod left behind while the other two went ahead for the other team's bottle. There was a blip of interest when Kazumi decided to put everyone on offense. They ended up getting their bottle stolen by Takeshi, the girl with stone hair, who'd slipped away the moment Yuito, that strange girl obsessed with bears, spotted the three racing out of their base.

Since then, the students had mostly been participating in simple training exercises, improving their control over their quirks, their physical ability, and learning the finer details of hero law. They were all growing as heroes, learning things that would be essential to their future. But today, they were going to learn something very different.

Asano leaned back in his chair, idly chatting with Raul about yesterday's lesson and relaxing before class began. He was smiling, cracking jokes, and generally enjoying himself, until the classroom door slammed open, silencing the class, and almost making Asano fall out of his chair. Miss Delson stormed into the class, her face twisted into a snarl. The students tensed, expecting one or all of their number to be chewed out by the teacher for some wrongdoing. But instead of delivering a tirade, she moved to the corner of the room, scowling darkly. Mr Young followed her in, his collected demeanour contrasting Miss Delson.

"Good morning students," Mr Young began, "Today, the board of Drebbel Enterprises has chosen to provide a guest speaker for your class." He didn't look up from his clipboard as he spoke, but even a deaf man could hear the creak from the plastic where his hands were, "Sand King is a retired hero, who will be giving a lecture on the importance of Hero accountability. That is, the importance of the licensing system."

The classroom immediately erupted into whispers, as the students began to have muttered discussions between themselves.

"I thought this was a secret project?" Aures asked, "Since when did we start having guest speakers?"

"What is some retired hero gonna be able to teach us that we don't already know? You know, teaching and telling, there's a damn difference." Ethan scoffed, leaning back in his chair.

"Quiet!" Miss Delson shouted, quickly silencing the class. Mr Young took a moment, then resumed speaking.

"Personally, I don't like this one bit. He's a bit of a stickler for rules, and as some of you might know, was famous for his absolute adherence to the law. That said, I expect all of you to stay respectful. He's no All Might or Endeavor, but he did his part in making the world a safer place." He extended his hand towards the door. "Now, to the auditorium."

The two teachers left the room, and the students filed out behind them. Asano, deciding that he didn't need any drama from Ethan, chose to hang back for a moment, delaying himself till he ended up beside Kazumi, intending to ask her about the decision-making that led to her strategy, but Kazumi was too preoccupied with glaring daggers at Takeshi and Yuito, and Asano knew she was not to be interrupted.

And as he looked around the class from the back of the small crowd, his mind started to wander to his earlier days as a vigilante. Now that he knew the comforts of the system, could he truly just go back to living on the streets? He was definitely more used to the comfy bed and actual food more than he wanted to admit. He looked at the others. How many were having the same thoughts? How had they lived before they were brought here?

In particular, he was intrigued by Shiki. The fact that her touch could apparently cause all sorts of problems would certainly be an issue. He could just imagine that Nakada would never have helped him the way he did if his Quirk had been that troublesome. He kept coming back to how she insisted that her Quirk 'didn't work like that', a peculiar detail he found strange. Suddenly, a jab at his shoulder startled him from his thoughts.

He almost jumped out of his skin when he turned and saw the very girl he was just thinking about, holding out the sharp corner of her notebook, evidently the source of the jab he'd just felt. Last he checked he was alone at the rear of the students. Was he really thinking that hard about a girl?!

"If you don't focus on where you're going, you'll crash into someone," Shiki warned, "Keep your head out of the clouds, at least till we get to the auditorium."

"Alright alright, no need to jab me again, jeez..." Asano replied, readjusting his uniform and rubbing his shoulder.

"You weren't listening to me when I spoke," Shiki countered, as she resumed walking, flicking open her book again. Asano remained silent, then fell into stride with her.

"What do you think about this guest speaker business then?" Asano asked, "You reckon they'll be worth the time?"

"Maybe, hard to tell without actually meeting them. I just hope they don't bring my sisters in. Which is entirely possible, given that they signed me up."

"You have sisters?" Asano asked, a look of slight surprise on his face, "Hold on, if they signed you up for the program, that means they're Pro Heroes, right?" Suddenly, her skill made a lot more sense. If she'd grown up with other heroes, she'd probably had training.

"Yes. But let's leave that topic there, alright?"

Asano wanted to press, but something about Shiki's expression made him reconsider. She looked the same as always, but Asano noticed the slight furrowing in her brow, her hand was tapping some weird rhythm on her leg, and her fingers were rolling her pencil around in its holder. Was she...nervous?

The class arrived at the doors of the auditorium, the first time they had been here since their first day in the program. Mr Young pushed open the doors, then stepped to the side, allowing the students to enter.

Inside, the chairs were arranged in the same style they were when the students first arrived, twenty chairs in two rows of ten, curved slightly around the stage at the front of the room.

Sand King stood on the stage, his arms crossed, with a stern look on his face. He was on the small side, with a slim frame, and sandy blond hair, with streaks of grey throughout. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of thick goggles, and he wore an expensive Italian suit. As soon as he saw the students, he scoffed in disappointment, and Asano was sure he saw Lauren, who stood beside him on the stage, wince.

"So, they went ahead anyway. Really shouldn't be here, I say!"

His eyes seemed to focus on Shiki as he said so, though it was hard to tell through his goggles. Before anyone could say anything, the retired pro-hero began to make his speech.

"Greeting, students…" He began, pausing for a moment as though to choose his words carefully, "As you already know, I am Sand King. I have been bought in today to educate you on the importance of the Hero License System."

He began to stride up and down the stage, as though he was an army instructor surveying a group of soldiers.

"Any questions before we begin?"

Three went up, belonging to Shiki, unsurprisingly; Aures, which raised several eyebrows; and to everyone's surprise, Ethan.

Ethan's desire to ask his question was clear in his eyes, strong enough that Asano thought he saw wisps of his shadow tendrils gathering around him. Evidently, Sand King also noticed, because he pointed his finger straight at Ethan.

"You." He commanded.

"Why'd you retire?" Ethan asked, leaning back in his chair, "Did you get soft, or scared?" He taunted, his lip curling slightly to show a sharp tooth. Asano noticed Kazumi looking at him with an almost admiring gleam in her eyes. The kind of admiration for someone who was about to put his head through a wall, that is.

Sand King didn't so much as raise an eyebrow, but he looked over at Lauren. An unspoken question was asked, and Lauren replied, "Please don't."

Sand King nodded, and all of a sudden Ethan's chair tipped forward, catching him completely by surprise. Just as his face was about to collide with the ground at a speed that would knock anyone's teeth out, a patch of sand appeared and cushioned his fall. Ethan slammed his hands on the floor, jumping up into a fighting stance, all the while spitting sand and shaking it out of his face.

"Neither," Sand King said, folding his arms over his chest,"I got old, and in accordance with the laws governing my profession, I retired to make way for someone better suited to my role; which is to say, someone younger. There are others my age still out and about, but even they no longer put themselves at the frontlines. I follow the rules, something you seem to have a good deal of trouble doing."

Ethan looked like he was about to charge the retired pro, but Damien stood up from beside him, placing his hand on Ethans shoulder and shaking his head. Asano instinctively looked at the teachers, and the two of them were surprisingly relaxed, with Miss Delson even smiling a little, watching the scene unfold. Asano suspected that she didn't care much for the domineering old man standing on the stage either, but he knew she would be forced to intervene, and he didn't like Ethan's chances.

"Anyone else?"

"Who was the most dangerous criminal you ever fought!" Aures shouted, not bothering to wait for herself to be picked.

"You were one of the three who raised their hand, I recall. That would be Specter, an international assassin responsible for the deaths of several prominent political figures. Her Quirk allows her to attack by way of an invisible astral projection, but she had to cover her eyes to prevent her senses from getting overloaded, and the Quirk also had a maximum effective range. It was quite the battle."

"Did you win?" Aures interjected.

"I wouldn't be standing here if I didn't. She was arrested, then spent several years in prison. I only hope her child doesn't follow in his/her mother's footsteps. Specter was a most remarkable woman, and her quirk would have been very helpful as a hero, but circumstances led her down the wrong path." His tone was nostalgic, almost wistful; the conversation brought up some past regrets, but he took a deep breath, and once again he was the slightly grumpy retired Pro Hero.

Aures was silent, along with everyone else. After a second, the 'oooh's and chuckles and wolf-whistles began. Asano couldn't resist a smile, and as far as he could see, Mr Young was sitting up straighter in his chair than Asano had ever seen him, Miss Delson actually had a hand over her mouth, and Lauren a shocked look on her face; it was obvious they couldn't associate the man in front of her with what he just confessed to. Turning his head to the side, he could see Shiki scribbling away in her notebook.

"Ha!" Ethan crowed, laughing through his words, "You slept with her, didn't you! The high and mighty hero couldn't resist the wiles of a villain huh?" His hand shot up mockingly even as he taunted the retired hero, waving it as though he expected Sand King to pick his question.

"She wasn't a villain back then, if that's what you're talking about. She refused my help, and that of her friends. In her own words, she wanted to 'make the world a better place doing something only I can do'." He imitated her tone here, and Asano could hear the confident, defiant young girl through Sand King's aging voice. "Some of her targets were corrupt despicable human beings, but their deaths simply led to power vacuums that were filled by even worse people or radicals who stirred up even more chaos and cost lives and livelihoods. She didn't consider the consequences for those people, and after causing one too many such incidents, she was overwhelmed with grief and despair, and she gave up. She became the genuine assassin she would've hated. It was painful for everyone involved, those closest to her even more so.

"I don't want that for anyone. One Specter is enough. That is also why I agreed to come here today, a question I know Miss Drebbel wants answered."

A moment of silence later, Shiki raised her hand.

"Miss Tendou," Sand King said, pointing at Shiki. A ripple of whispers passed through the students, surprised that Sand King knew her last name.

"Can you only control sand, or does your quirk's control extend further than that?" Shiki asked, her mechanical pencil already poised over her notebook.

"This isn't a class about my quirk." Sand King replied simply, "If you wanted to learn about quirks instead of Hero Licenses, you should have enrolled at a school with a proper Hero Program."

"Hey wait a second!" Takeshi shouted, "You answered Aures's question, why not Shiki's!"

There was no response from Sand King, or even a reaction. He just kept looking around the auditorium. "If there are no more questions, then let us begin."

The lights dimmed, and Sand King began to give his lecture, a well practiced speech to go with the powerpoint that seemed to have all emotion and personal details scrubbed out of it, replaced with cold hard facts.

The speech went on and on, going systematically from the rising prominence of professional heroes to the first attempts at a licensing system. Heads started to droop by the thirty minute mark, and by the hour mark, a few students had fallen asleep and had to be woken by Lauren loudly clearing her throat in the background.

Eventually, the speech came to an end, to the relief of most of the students, as they began to file out of the auditorium and made for the cafeteria.

"Get into your costumes after lunch!" Mr Young shouted after them, "We'll be doing some training this afternoon."

The doors shut, leaving the four adults to themselves. Lauren took a deep breath, and began to speak.

"I apologise for the behavior of some of my students, Mr-"

"You can apologise to the Board, Miss Drebbel," Sand King interrupted, "I understand that many of your students would have a hard time accepting what I have to say, but I thought this program was here to teach them discipline?"

"No, I think the more pressing matter is how you were romantically involved with one of the deadliest figures of the underworld. Was even her classmate, by the sound of it. Even in my Agency there were people who'd heard of Specter and were afraid." Miss Delson suggested, eyeing the retired pro with a sly smirk.

"Olivia…" Mr Young warned, laying a hand on her shoulder in a weak attempt to stop her, as was evident from the intense interest plainly visible on his face.

"I mean it. That was a real shock there, Issei-senpai." She said, emphasising the last word in her sentence.

"Says you, who works for the sister of a notorious vigilante," Sand King countered with a small smirk of his own, "Last I heard, your brother had escaped from prison, alongside Darkangel," He said, switching his focus to Lauren.

"Which I could do nothing about. We haven't spoken since his incarceration, and he's made no attempt to get contact. Honestly, I don't know what came over him."

"I understand. Personally speaking, today was not as bad of an experience as I expected; some of them reminded me of her before she...well. Good day to you, Miss Drebbel, Miss Delson, Mr Young. I wish you luck with your program, but I do have to make a report to the board about how some students fell asleep, and I doubt they'll be as forgiving as I am."

"I understand," Lauren said, "Don't worry, I'll deal with the board, they're my responsibility." She sighed slightly, "This meeting has been a long time coming anyway,

"That's why I dislike this bureaucracy. In any case, I suppose you'll want me to exclude my concerns about the youngest Tendou from my report?"

"That would be preferable. So far, the board doesn't know the details about the charges, but if they do find out, they'll probably try to blackmail her sisters for something or other, especially the eldest, who's currently pursuing further studies abroad. After all, her actual records are squeaky clean, as per her sisters' request."

"Of course. I wouldn't want my family's biggest tragedy to be making headlines either, as good a scoop as it may be."

Lauren stood up, "Allow me to escort you out, Issei." She said, offering Sand King her arm.

"No, but thank you," Sand King said politely, "I remember my way out."

He turned towards the door and started making his way out of the auditorium.

"You know," He called over his shoulder, "I never said I didn't enjoy my time, even if some of them did fall asleep on me. I might be back, and then I'll see how things have changed."

He paused just before the door.

"That is, if you're still running."

* * *

**I've really got to stop promising the next chapter will be out soon, something always comes up to put a stop to that, and it ends up taking me a month to write a chapter.**

**Regardless, thank you to everyone who still reads this, and extra thanks to everyone who reviews.**


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